


Keep You Here

by forgetfulelephant



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst, Explicit Language, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, i'll add tags as i go, platonic, references, theres a tag I can live up to, very gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-05-15 18:05:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 45,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5794426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetfulelephant/pseuds/forgetfulelephant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello and welcome!!!!!!!! I have nothing else to say,,,,,</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Alleyways

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome!!!!!!!! I have nothing else to say,,,,,

The Inkling smiled as she made her way back from another turf war. She'd won, and bought herself a cute new hat with some of her winnings. Although it wasn't everyday that she shed money on such mundane items as hats, the hat was too adorable. Besides, she kinda got the feeling that the clownfish in the clerk's anemone hair would say something mean if she didn't.

Coral - the Inkling - was tired now, though, as it was late, and she'd decided to call it a day and head back home. She found that battling at Mahi Mahi resort drained her - probably because of the amount of times she fell in the water.

The sun was touching the horizon, illuminating the clouds around it. The sky shone red. It was sunset, and it was quite a beautiful one too. On a normal day, Coral would be busy with her eyes transfixed to the sky but, as she was about to find out, this was not a normal day. Instead of the sky, something else had caught her eye.

As she left the plaza, the Inkling had to pass several dark alleyways, and it was then that she stopped. A shadow flitted across the brick wall, and Coral found herself suddenly bursting with both fear and curiosity.

She wasn't (that) stupid, she at least knew that wandering down dark alleyways this late was stupid and dangerous. But... there was something pulling her towards the shadows, luring her to what was probably her death.

Something reckless surged inside her, and she stepped bravely towards the alley's entrance.

* * *

Out of the corner of her eye, the Octoling sensed movement. She whipped her head around and flattened herself against the wall.

Peeking out from behind it, she caught a glimpse of an Inkling. Panic rose in her chest, but she supressed it, clutching onto her stolen gun with both hands. This was what she was born for, right? This was the reason she existed. To kill the Inklings.

Granted, it wasn't really a pleasant existence, but she never let that get the best of her during a situation like this. Especially now that she was in enemy territory. She couldn't let her guard down, what with a (probably armed) Inkling a few feet away.

She lived for this, didn't she - what was she waiting for?

Alda dived out from behind the wall and aimed her gun at the Inkling's face. It all happened so fast, she doubted it had any time to react.

The gravel crunched under her knees, startlingly loud. It seemed to awaken the Inkling to the danger, as it took a step back. Alda used this to her advantage, taking aim and firing a rapid succession of metal bullets at the silhouette of the Inkling.

It seemed to have good reflexes, though, as it dropped to the ground, bullets whooshing over its head. A few nicked it's tentacles, but otherwise it was unharmed. Alda scowled. She was hoping the Inkling would go down in one shot, but already it had begun to rise, almost unaffected.

Alda quickly reloaded the gun and sent another round at the squid. The Inkling wasn't as lucky this time, catching a bullet in the shoulder and staggering.

Feeling a swell of triumph in her chest, she raised her gun again. Intending to shoot once more, Alda pulled the trigger. But - to her dismay - the gun gave a defeated 'click', signalling that the chamber had been emptied. Alda was out of bullets.

Giving a frustrated groan, she gave up, deciding to take a different approach. The Inkling had backed up even further, clearly affected by its injuries. Using this to her advantage, Alda took a swift step forward and slammed the butt of the shotgun into the Inkling's head, sending it crashing to the ground. It was completely defenceless now, and completely at Alda's mercy.

Alda stared in shock down at the defeated creature. Never before in her life had Alda taken the life of another. She wasn't a commander, or even a very powerful Octoling. She was a private, a nobody. Anybody at her level would be elated to find an Inkling at their mercy. Imagine if everyone back home found out! Alda the Inkling Slayer!

Alda the... murderer.

She took a step back. She couldn't do it. There was an Inkling laying at her feet, injuried, terrified, completely helpless; it wouldn't be hard to end its life. But... this wasn't splatting someone. There would be no respawning, no coming back from the dead. Alda shuddered.

Sure, she'd splatted Inklings before. Countless times. She relished in trapping them, watching them getting stuck in the ink, then sending them back where they came from. She'd splatted that ridiculous pain-in-the-arse Agent 3 before, too.

But this... this was murder, plain and simple. Alda couldn't do it. She ran.

\---------

Coral laid in the darkness for what seemed like an eternity. There were no sounds except for the howling of the wind, the rustling of trees and the unsteady beating of her own heart.

Slowly, the Inkling lifted a trembling hand to touch the wound on her shoulder, and it came away sticky with blood.

Coral let her hand fall back to her side. She'd never seen a weapon like that before, one that didn't shoot ink. Those weren't allowed in Inkopolis - but, she guessed, her assailant wasn't from Inkopolis.

Speaking of her assailant, how had it gotten into Inkopolis? Where there more? What were it's plans? Coral squeezed her eyes shut. She dreaded what this would mean for her home. Would it escalate from here, would she be seeing entire troops of Octarians razing her city to the ground in the near future?

No, that was a stupid thought. Besides, the Octoling hadn't killed her. Why didn't it kill her if it planned on destroying Inkopolis?

...Why didn't it kill her? Surely it wanted to. The opportunity was right there, Coral was completely helpless, the Octoling could've very easily ended her life.

Well, for whatever reason it fled, Coral was glad. She didn't particularly want to be turned into sushi.

 

It was after the stars had begun to shine and Coral's blood had long matted to her shirt that the Inkling finally regained the energy and willpower to sit up. It was painful, but after carefully inspecting the wound, Coral deemed it not too severe. Thus, she went home. It took her a while, and she fell over more than once, but she made it back in one peice. She cleaned and dressed her wound, did a little tidying up, had some dinner, and went to bed.

Funnily enough, now that she was back home, her injuries were attended to, and she was safe, she found that she was unable to sleep. The events that had occured weighed on her mind, and Coral shifted uncomfortably in bed. This was going to be a long night.

\---------

Alda punched the nearest wall, hard. Why hadn't she killed that damn Inkling? It was right there! It was the perfect opportunity to properly strike down her first Inkling, and she had let it go to waste.

Nursing her hand, Alda leant back against the wall she'd just punched and sighed. She wondered where the Inkling was now, wether it'd gotten home safe or died of its injures. Despite Alda having been the one to inflict them, she felt... bad.

Did everyone feel like this when they hurt someone? Alda didn't know. But, whatever it was she was feeling, the Octoling didn't like it one bit. She fervently wished she was back home, where it was normal and she was safe and she didn't have to worry about Inklings or getting food or where she would sleep that night.

Speaking of where she would sleep that night, where _would_ she sleep that night? It was cold, and dark, and damp, and - Alda stopped herself. There was no need to get worked up about it. She would simply find somewhere to sleep, and make do with it. She wasn't a baby, she wasn't going to fuss around and make a big deal of it. She was a warrior, and warriors... evidently slept in the garbage.

Shuddering, Alda made her way over to one of the more shadowy parts of the alley, pulled a discarded tarpaulin over her head and sat down on the ground. This, Alda found, was extremely unpleasant.

She found herself envious of the bugs crawling around on the brick walls. At least some of them could fly away from their problems. But no, not Alda. Alda had to sleep in crappy conditions with a muddy tarpaulin over her head and cold wind stealing any warmth from her body.

This was going to be a long night.


	2. Painkillers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes ok so this is a really quick update, but I wrote this chapter surprisingly quickly and couldn't wait to post it!

Coral was pretty sure she should be resting at home right now, but she needed to get some more food in (you can never have enough food), so she'd decided to do a little grocery shopping. It couldn't hurt, right?

The shop was strangely quiet today. Seemed as if everyone had decided to stay home. Coral wished she'd done the same; her head was pounding from being hit with the gun and her shoulder wound hurt like a bitch. Snatching several boxes of strong painkillers from a shelf, Coral made her way to the till.

There was a short line, so the Inkling busied herself with looking out of the window while she waited. It was rather downcast, with iron grey clouds blocking out the blue sky, of which not a hint was to be seen. Coral preferred it this way; it was staying-in weather, and staying-in weather meant warm blankets, books, a hot drink. Now, more than ever, Coral wished she was indoors. The attack last night had left her terrified; she only left the house because she'd run out of toilet roll.

The line slowly moved, and Coral shuffled up with it, still absentmindedly staring out the window. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of movement, and her eyes flickered to where it came from. A figure was creeping along behind one of the other shops, clearly trying its best to not be seen. Coral watched as it turned its head and met her gaze. The Inkling couldn't see its eyes through its strange goggles, but she knew it, too, was staring in complete disbelief.

It was the Octoling.

~~~

Alda couldn't believe it. That damn Inkling! How was it walking around as if Alda hadn't shot it at all!? The Octoling tore her gaze away and dashed out of the Inkling's line of sight.

All Alda wanted to do was steal some food and leave, but no, that DAMN INKLING had to appear AGAIN.

But then again, Alda thought, this creature could be useful to her. Maybe if she won it over, it would tell her all the Inkling's secrets! Then Alda could go home and report her findings to the generals - that was why she'd come here, right? And besides, the Octoling had found herself in a bit of a predicament. Inkopolis was a lot more chaotic than home was, and Alda was unable to navigate as easily as she could at home. The twisty roads, labyrinth-like settlements and really terrible architecture had led Alda astray from her mission. She was... lost.

She gritted her teeth. No, she wasn't lost! She couldn't be lost! If she was lost, then that meant that her 'mission' would fail, she would be captured and killed by an Inkling, and she'd never… she’d never…

Alda made up her mind. Watching the Inkling leaving the shop with several grocery bags, she snuck around one of the building silently and followed her. The Inkling was unaware of her presence, so Alda allowed herself to creep closer.

This carried on for about ten minutes, with Alda darting behind houses and into alleyways to avoid being seen. But the Octoling had had enough. Once she was sure no-one was around, she reached out and seized the Inkling's arm, pulling it into a nearby alley. She then slammed a hand over its mouth, muffling its cries.

"Listen," Alda hissed. "If you scream, I'll knock you out. Understand?" She realised she should've probably given a death threat, but the Inkling nodded anyway. "Good. I'm going to take my hand off now. If you run, you'll be dead before you have even taken a step." That was better.

The Inkling trembled, but stayed where it was as Alda removed her hand. It eyed the grocery bags it'd dropped with remorse. Packets of food had been scattered across the pavement.

"Sorry about that," Alda muttered. No! What was she apologizing for? Just get on with it! "Listen up, Inkling. I, uh, need your assistance."

The Inkling spoke up for the first time. "Why would you need my help? Besides, didn't you try to murder me last night?" Its voice shook a little, and, despite its confident words, Alda could tell it was scared.

The Octoling scowled beneath her mask. "So what? I spared your life, didn't I?"

"That doesn’t really matter when I'm left with a hole in my shoulder," came the reply.

"Fine! So I tried to kill you! Can we just forget about that, for the moment?"

"My shoulder's having a hard time forgetting."

"You're insufferable! Can you help me or can't you?!"

"You just called me insufferable. I feel less inclined to help you now."

Alda was rather wishing she'd killed this Inkling last night. "Fine, I take it back. You're clearly a lovely, sweet, kind person. Now will you help me?"

"You're being sarcastic."

"I'm not!"

There was a pause. Then, "if I help you, you have to promise not to kill me. Oh, and you have to pick up my shopping." The Inkling pointed.

"Fine," Alda growled, and stomped over to pick up the dropped groceries. Inklings were, apparently, a lot worse than Alda had previously thought.

Once the items had been returned to the carrier bags, the Octoling picked them up and shoved them at the Inkling without looking.

"So," said the Inkling, "what exactly is it you need help with?"

~~~

"Well, I..." the Octoling seemed to be struggling to find the right words. “I - this city is all over the place! I can't... I can't find my way around."

There was a pause, and then Coral burst out laughing. "You mean," she wheezed, "you're lost?"

This was too good. Coral realised that the situation wasn't entirely safe (the Octoling looked ready to murder), but she couldn't help herself. An Octoling, a dangerous, murderous creature - lost.

"This isn’t funny!"

Coral forced her laughter to die down, still giggling into her hand. "Right, right, I'm sorry."

"You better be," the Octoling muttered.

Coral ignored this, and continued speaking. "I can help you, of course, but I should probably introduce myself first! My name's Coral, what's yours?"

"Alda," came the one word reply.

Coral smiled nervously. "It's nice to meet you! So, uh, I guess you don't have a place to stay, right?"

Alda shook her head.

"We, uh, we can go back to my place! I need to put all this away" - Coral gestured to the shopping bags - "so I was heading there, anyway. And it's out of the way, so no-one will see you."

"Sounds great. Can we go, already? I'm kinda tired."

"That's probably because you used up all your energy trying to murder me," Coral noted, and started walking in the direction she'd been heading.

Alda followed. "Can you stop talking about that already?!" The pair bickered light-heartedly the entire way back, and Alda found herself at ease, for once in her entire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get wrecked Alda


	3. Precautions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ate a cookie while writing this chapter. I just thought you ought to know.

"I take it you're enjoying that?"

Alda looked up from her second plate of food. All she could manage was a breif nod before shoveling more fish in her mouth. It felt like she hadn't eaten in days, weeks, even. The Octoling heard her host chuckle, and she spared her a glance.

Coral had finished, and was leaning back in her seat. Her blue eyes were practically lit up with happiness and Alda found herself staring. Even though they'd only known each other for a short while, Alda had never seen Coral this happy. It made her feel happy, too.

"I-is something wrong?"

"Uh, no." Alda quickly busied herself with food once more.

"Ah, okay."

The rest of the meal passed in uneventful silence. Once Alda was finished, Coral took their plates away to the kitchen, and left Alda to look around nosily.

It looked like a pretty boring house to Alda. There was a boring living room, with a boring sofa and a boring TV. Then there was a boring kitchen with a boring stove and other boring cooking-related appliances.

Alda didn't know what half of it was, but that simple fact didn't do much to pique her interest. It was just another ordinary - if rather drab - rich-ass Inkling house. Sure, it would've been great growing up in one of these, but it was so different to home that Alda couldn't help but turn her nose up.

Possibly the only item of interest in the entire house was a glass cabinet which Coral had instructed Alda not to touch. It was full of what seemed like mementos - dusty picture frames and old medals. It looked like it meant a lot to Coral. Alda looked away.

Coral herself had just emerged from the kitchen, and stood opposite Alda with a small smile on her face. "Shall we go and watch some TV?"

"Sure, why not? Then we could engage in other equally fun activities, such as watching paint dry." Despite the snide comment, the Octoling got up and followed Coral to the living room.

"Or maybe you could demonstrate your fighting skills? I'm sure that would be just as entertaining."

"I doubt it'd be very entertaining for you, unless there are some fun parties in the afterlife." Alda grinned internally; she was quite proud of herself for that comeback.

Coral chose to ignore Alda's amazing comeback, and instead switched on the TV. It was on at some meaningless show featuring an over-dramatic robot wearing pink, sparkly, heeled boots. Alda didn't think much of it.

Slowly, the sky outside darkened. The moon shone bright in the sky, the few stars that could be seen twinkled, and Coral announced that it was bedtime.

Alda turned to the Inkling with an affronted expression, despite the fact that half of her face was obscured by the mask. Coral seemed to get the idea, anyway.

"It's late. Little Octolings need their sleep!"

Alda gasped aloud. "Excuse me? I am not little, and I do NOT need sleep!"

Laughing, Coral said: "I was kidding! And anyway, I'm going to bed now, too. There's nothing for you to do down here, you may as well get some rest."

Alda gave up; Coral was too damn nice for her own good.

\-------------

Coral laid awake in bed, tangled in the too-warm blankets. She fingered the knife on her bedside table and took a deep, shaky breath.

 _It's just a precaution_ , she told herself. _I won't actually need to use this._

She'd let Alda use the guest room, which was next door to her own. It had a creaky door, and Coral had spent the last half an hour listening out for the telltale groan of its hinges.

It's not that she didn't trust Alda, it was just that... well, she didn't trust Alda. The Octoling seemed nice enough, but Coral knew that appearances weren't everything.

Besides, Alda had tried to murder her. And everyone knew that Octarians and Inklings were sworn enemies. Maybe all of this was just an elaborate set-up so Alda could sneak in and take Coral's life as she slept.

But... Coral wanted so badly to trust Alda. She seemed like a nice person, even if she was a tad aggressive at times.

The truth was, Coral was lonely. She wanted somebody to trust. Living alone was great and all, but it did have its repercussions. The Inkling had been living by herself for so long now, she'd forgotten what having family felt like. Sure, she had friends, but when it came down to it, there was no-one there when Coral really needed someone.

No, she couldn't let that be her downfall. The Inkling made up her mind. She'd use the knife if it was necessary, and kill Alda - even though every cell in her body was violently rejecting the idea. After all, this may not be the greatest existence, but Coral didn't want to let it go just yet.

Slowly, the Inkling let herself fall into a fitful and restless sleep.

\----------------

Coral opened her bleary eyes, squinting at the sunlight filtering through her blinds. For a whole 30 seconds, she was blissfully unaware of the previous two days' events, until, of course, reality came crashing down on her.

_I have an Octoling staying in the guest room._

Coral whispered the words under her breath. They sounded strange and foreign in the early light, and she decided to shut her mouth.

The Inkling rubbed her eyes and smiled sleepily. She was pleasantly surprised to find that she had not been murdered in her sleep, and that Alda seemed to still be in bed.

She looked over to the knife still resting on her bedside table. The light had caught it in just the right way; it shone brightly and Coral had to avert her eyes. She felt bad about it now, she felt terrible that she'd been so horrible as to not trust Alda. Coral had chose to forgive the Octoling, had she not? So the why did she feel the need to keep a knife beside her?

_It was just a precaution._

Coral roughly shoved the blanket off her legs and got up. The rush of cold air she felt when she left her bed made her shiver, and she stumbled over to her closet, pulled out her favorite fluffy dressing gown and wrapped it around her shoulders.

She wondered what would happen today. It was bright and sunny outside, perhaps even nice enough to venture beyond the doors of her home...Eugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same, Coral, same.
> 
> Kudos to those who got the Undertale reference (I'm trash I apologize)


	4. Disguises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is bad I apologize! It's just a crappy filler chapter, but next chapter we get back to the plot, don't worry!!

Alda sat on the edge of the bed with the blankets wrapped round her, swinging her legs. Just a few minutes ago, she'd heard Coral go downstairs, and now a war raged in her mind. Should she follow her? Or should she wait until Coral came to wake her? Would it startle the Inkling if she were to come downstairs too suddenly? Had she even remembered Alda was here?

Alda looked over to where she'd left her mask on the table next to her bed. It'd caught the light of the early morning sun, and was shining brightly. The Octoling debated putting it back on, but then decided against it. If Coral had trusted Alda enough to let her sleep in her house, then Alda could trust Coral enough to show her her face.

She let the blankets drop off her shoulders and pushed herself off the bed. The soft carpet tickled her bare feet as Alda wiggled her toes in it. It felt a lot better than tarmac, that was for sure.

Walking over to the window, she yanked open the blinds and stared out into the yard. The city of Inkopolis sprawled as far as the eye could see, and Alda felt suddenly out of her depth.

_No, I can't second guess myself now. I came here for a reason. I have a purpose, and so that purpose must be fulfilled._

The light streaming through the window reflected off Alda's armour, which she'd, for some reason, slept in. Perhaps it'd given her a false sense of security.

 _Oh well_ , she thought. _At least I won't have to bother getting dressed now._

She stayed at the window for another minute or so, watching the city wake up. Then she turned her back to it, and went downstairs.

\-------------

The kettle whined loudly, almost loudly enough to jerk Coral out of her sleepy daze. She pulled a mug clumsily out of a cupboard, but misjudged the distance between the shelf and the table and ended up slamming the mug onto the worktop.

"Someone's in a bad mood."

Coral whirled around. Leaning against the doorframe, with a smirk on her face, was Alda. The Inkling stared.

Alda seemed to have left her mask upstairs, and the half of her face that Coral couldn't see yesterday was now visible. Her bright green eyes were rimmed with purple and were so piercing Coral almost wanted to look away. Almost.

"Is something wrong?"

"N-no." Coral turned away, returning to her unfinished cup of coffee.

The kettle had finished boiling now, so she busied herself with pouring the water into her mug. What was wrong with her? Why had she stared at Alda like that?

Coral decided not to put too much milk into her coffee today; she seemed to be more asleep than usual.

"What are you making?" Alda walked over to join Coral at the table.

"Coffee."

"What's that?"

"A drink."

"Wow, you really are in a bad mood."

"I'll be fine once I've had some coffee."

"What's so special about coffee?"

Coral looked over at Alda with the most offended expression she could manage this early in the morning. "Coffee," she said, "is my life force."

"Really? Is it that effective?" Alda looked at the mug almost wondrously.

"No, but it does a good job of waking me up in the morning."

Alda looked at her with a half-confused, half-affronted look.

"It contains caffeine," explained Coral. "It, well, it, uh... it wakes me up." It was too early in the morning to care about the science behind caffeine.

"I see," said Alda. "Can I try it?"

Coral had just finished stirring it, so she offered the Octoling a sip.

Immediately after taking a drink, Alda's nose crinkled and she thrust the mug back at Coral. "Blegh! How can you drink that stuff?!"

Coral chuckled, and drank some herself. It was a little hot, but Alda seemed to be preoccupied with the taste.

"It's so gross! I see now how it'd wake you up!"

Coral laughed again and took her cup into the living room, Alda trailing behind, still complaining.

"I'll never get the taste out of my mouth!"

Moments later, Coral was curled up on the sofa, mug of coffe warming her hands and the TV once again showcasing a melodramatic, pink, sparkly robot. She pulled her dressing gown around herself tighter, and looked over at Alda, who was sat next to her. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Alda said. "It was much better than sleeping rough."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Silence fell, but it was a comfortable silence. Coral liked silences, but she usually found that other people didn't. They somehow felt the need to fill every quiet moment with noise, but Alda wasn't like that, and Coral felt a small wave of happiness wash over her at that revelation. The peaceful, tranquil moment sustained by the both of them relaxed the Inkling, and she couldn't help but warm up a great deal to Alda.

"So," said Coral a while later, getting up and putting her empty mug on the windowsill. "What do you think to a tour of Inkopolis?"

\-------------------

"No," said Alda bluntly. "I am not wearing that."

"Oh come on," Coral wheedled. "It's not going to kill you-"

"But it looks ridiculous! Why on earth you own this... this thing  is beyond me!"

"You don't have to put it on, of course, if youd much rather be captured and probably killed by the military," Coral said almost cheerfully.

Alda glowered.

"You don't have to put it on yet, just when we go out."

"Oh, fine. Whatever."

"For now, just put this on." Coral put the giant headdress aside and picked up another, less intimidating item. "It's a hoodie," she explained.

Alda took the 'hoodie' off Coral and unfolded it. It seemed to be an item of clothing. It was a little too oversized for both Coral and Alda, but it would do well in covering up Alda's armour (which she'd flatly refused to take off).

Pulling the hoodie over her head, Alda shot a disgruntled look at Coral. It was a tight fit over her tentacles, but she managed to get it over her head - all the while maintaining a grumpy expression.

Coral laughed. "Seems I'm not the one in a mood today."

"I just don't see why I have to wear all this!" Alda kicked the headdress that was lying on the floor.

"Don't kick it, it was expensive," Coral said irritably. "I mean, not that I ever wear it, but -"

"Then what was the point in buying it? Honestly, you Inklings are weird."

"That's a bit rich, coming from you," Coral noted. "Anyway, I'm going to go upstairs and get changed now."

Alda nodded and turned away, ignoring Coral's comment (with difficulty) and instead agonizing over the long sleeves of the hoodie. Once Coral had left, she went and sat down on the sofa, rolling the sleeves up so that they weren't in her way.

The Octoling put her head in her hands. What was wrong with her? Why was she still here? Any normal Octoling would've left in the middle of the night (after stealing provisions and killing the Inking) - or, better yet, not trusted an Inkling at all, even if they were as lost and confused as Alda. And why did she have to pick _that_  Inkling, the one she'd tried to kill?

How strange that the very Inkling she'd tried to murder had blocked her path again the next day. Was it coincidence?

Or... was it fate?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so starts the gay.


	5. Instincts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See, Coral can be nice if she tries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which the author acTUALLY GETS BACK TO THE PLOT

It was a lovely day. Wisps of cloud were scattered across the blue sky, and a cool breeze made trees dance. A few birds soared overhead, singing gaily. It was a beautiful day. It was also the third day in a row that Coral had left the house, and this was not settling well with her.

Just before they'd left, Coral had discovered that she'd lost her new hat a few days earlier. This, she blamed almost entirely on Alda, and dropped more than enough passive-aggressive remarks on the subject, as if Alda wasn't riled up enough already.

The Octoling in question had complained loudly and vociferously about the obtrusive headgear she'd had to wear, and Coral had quite had enough.

On some levels, however, Coral could empathize with Alda. She'd been pulled from everything she'd ever known, and thrust into a whole new world. Coral didn't blame Alda for being less than civil (her still-painful shoulder wound had other ideas, though), and, despite her deep mistrust of the Octoling, she wanted to help her.

Coral lifted her hand to where she'd been shot. The new bandages she'd put on this morning were tight, and she could feel the indents it was leaving in her skin. She was no doctor, that was for sure.

At least Alda had stopped her complaining. Her mood seemed to have improved greatly since stepping outside; clearly the beautiful weather had cheered her up. She'd shut up entirely, and instead of arguing, the pair walked in silence, admiring their surroundings.

Coral was glad. Not just because Alda had ceased her complaining, but because she seemed to be enjoying herself.

The Inkling fixed her gaze back on the sky, suddenly aware that she'd been staring at Alda for a while. She fervently hoped Alda hadn't noticed.

 

The two of them walked and walked, sometimes not saying anything, sometimes talking. Coral told Alda about her home, explaining the shops, the houses, the turf wars, even about Callie and Marie. The Octoling listened quietly, allowing Coral to lead her to different parts of the city.

Coral made sure not to tell her too much, though. She had no doubt that whatever she told Alda would be reported back to wherever she came from. So Coral told her about mundane things, like Sheldon's long weapon explanations, or how to nag Judd the cat for cash.

Soon enough, they reached the edge of the plaza. Like the shop the previous day, the plaza was surprisingly empty, and for that, Coral was relieved. An almost empty plaza meant less chance that Alda was caught. Coral turned to face her, and adjusted her head gear for her. "This is the plaza. It's where we have turf wars and stuff. We'll get something to eat here, but it's a bit out in the open so we won't stay long."

Alda nodded silently.

"Are you okay? You haven't spoken a word since we left."

"Yeah, it's just a lot to take in, that's all."

"I'm sure." Coral looked out into the plaza. A few Inklings were scattered about here and there, chatting with each other or just enjoying the day. Loud music blasted from the lobby, accompanied by the quieter, sweeter music of the shops. "It must be so much different to what you're used to. I've lived here all my life, so it's all I've ever known,  but... even having lived here for as long as I have, it can be to much sometimes. I can hardly imagine what it must feel like seeing all this for the first time."

She watched Alda curl her hands int fists and, after a second's hesitation, reached out and gently placed a hand on her arm. "Maybe this is too much for one day. You're not used to this, and it's dangerous, maybe we should go home-"

"No. It's just a stupid Inkling city, I'll be fine. There's hardly anyone out today, what could go wrong?"

Coral winced internally. What could go wrong, indeed. The Inkling could think of numerous things that could ruin the day, but for Alda's sake she kept her suspicions and worries to herself. "Yeah, okay. Are you ready?" Coral let go of Alda's arm and together, they walked into the bright light of the plaza.

\-------------

"Alda, this is Ika and Finn. They're my friends! This is Alda, she's, uh, a friend?"

Alda shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of Coral's friends, and didn't look up at them. She mumbled a 'hello', but other than that, she kept quiet. A horrible feeling was settling in the pit of her stomach and she didn't want to look up in case her fears were confirmed. From what she could tell, Coral's two friends were a female Inkling and a male Inkling. Ika, the female Inkling, had already said a polite 'hi' and the male Inkling, Finn, had kept silent.

It was something in the aura the male Inkling gave off that unsettled Alda. It was too familiar, the way he held himself, the way he moved. Every small action he did sent shivers down Alda's spine. And yet still she didn't look at him.

Instead, she brought her eyes up to look at the female Inkling, Ika. She was quite short and chubby, with pink cheeks and chocolate brown eyes. Alda couldn't help but contrast her to Coral, whose piercing blue eyes and pale skin Alda couldn't quite describe.

Not for the first time, she longed for a weapon, if only to comfort her and make her feel less helpless. She felt so powerful with a gun in her hand, but without it, she was lost. These Inklings in front of her were such easy targets, Alda could strike them all down easily if she wanted to. It wasn't easy to deny the fact that she was scared. Weaponless, helpless, lost and in the middle of enemy territory, Alda had put all of her trust into an Inkling she'd only just met. She went still, her entire frame locking into place, ready to either run or fight for her life. Her eyes darted around, looking for anything - _anything_ she could use as a weapon. But there was nothing.

The bad feeling in her chest intensified, and Alda's heart thudded against her ribcage. Finn shuffled in front of her, clearly bored. Alda didn't even notice that Coral had struck up a conversation with Ika, too focused on the movement of Finn's feet.

 _I'm just overreacting,_ she thought. But Alda always trusted her gut instinct. She wished it was wrong. Especially now, in this situation, she desperately hoped against hope that she was wrong.

As slowly as she dared, she looked up at the Inkling boy's face, and her heart skipped a beat. She stopped breathing, and a mixture of anger, fear and panic swirled in her chest.  
It was him.

Agent 3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alda called out for help...
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> But nobody came.


	6. Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the author sacrifices good writing for plot and feels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably make my chapters longer

CoraIl scuffed her shoe on the ground as she listened to Ika, her friend, talk.

The nkling had very few friends, but her friendship with Ika and Finn made up for that; the pair of them were very kind to Coral and were often a pleasure to hang around. They didn't see her very often, as Coral tended to prefer her own company, but neither of them ever complained about it.

She spent more time with Ika than with Finn, though, as sometimes he would disappear for hours at a time. Not that Coral minded; Finn could be tiring to hang around with. It wasn't that he was particularly mean-spirited, but that he was... well, it didn't make sense to dwell on that now.

The four of them (Coral, Alda, Ika and Finn) had found a wide bench to sit on, and had been talking amongst themselves for a while. Well, Ika, Finn and Coral had talked. Alda had been silent the entire time. The Inkling knew something was wrong, but sensed that it wouldn't be wise to ask Alda about it just yet. Still, Coral was uneasy. Maybe she just wasn't used to strangers. But then if that was the case, why had Coral sensed such (poorly concealed) shock and fear radiating from the Octoling earlier?

"Hey... Coral?" Came a faint whisper from beside her.

"Alda? What is it?"

"I need to talk to you. Now."

"N-now?!" Coral's voice raised slightly and Ika stopped talking.

"U-um, is something wrong?" Ika looked up at Coral, worry and confusion shining in her eyes.

"No, don't worry, nothing's wrong! I -" Coral broke off suddenly as Alda grabbed her arm. "Wha-"

Alda stood up, pulling Coral along with her.

"Uh, we'll be right back!" The Inkling shot what she hoped was a reassuring glance at Ika and Finn, and quickly turned as Alda yanked insistently on her arm. "What's going on? Why won't you talk to me?!"

Alda didn't reply, but hurried out of the square with Coral in tow. She strode down a small side street, which was dark and empty, litter everywhere. It was cold now, or maybe that was just Coral. She shivered, and tried to find her voice.

"Alda, what are you doing? Where are we going?"

When Alda didn't reply, Coral attempted to pull her arm out of Alda's grasp, but the Octoling was too strong. "Y-you're scaring me..."

This seemed faze Alda, as she stopped and released Coral's arm. "We- I need to leave."

"What, you mean, go home? But its only early on in the day-"

Alda whirled around to face Coral and thrust something into her hands. Coral looked down in confusion - then in horror. "Oh," she whispered.

"Now do you understand? I found it on the bench where we were sitting." Alda's voice was sharp and confident, almost entirely masking the underlying fear it held. "It's not safe here. It's not safe anywhere. I don't trust you, Inkling, but... you'll still help me, right?" She sounded unsure, tapering off.

"Of course I'll still help you! I- yeah, you're right, we should head home now." Coral dropped the item she was holding onto the floor, and smiled a shaky smile. "And in case you've forgotten, I have a name."

"Right, sorry," Alda mumbled.

"Don't worry. I won't let anything bad happen to you, okay?"

"Thank you," Alda said quietly.

"You know, I think that's the first time you've said anything remotely nice. Your gratitude is much appreciated."

"Oh, shut up, Inkling."

Coral found herself laughing despite the situation, and gestured towards the alley's exit. "Come on, let's go home."

A cold, harsh wind blew through the street Coral and Alda had just left, and the item Coral had dropped sat innocently on the pavement. It was a newspaper. Its pages fluttered in the breeze, flicking to different articles until the wind died down.

The front cover was now visible, slighty dampened and muddy from resting on the floor, but visble nonetheless. It featured a low quality, slightly blurry image clearly taken with a phone and a few paragraphs of nondescript small print writing. The headline was in huge lettering, block capitals and read simply: 'OCTOLING SIGHTING IN INKOPOLIS'.

\-------------------------

Once the pair got back, Alda ripped off the head gear and threw it into a corner of the room. Coral didn't say anything, but went to pick it up and put it away.

"Um, Alda?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry... about today. I guess it could've gone a bit better."

Alda looked over at the Inkling. Her brow was furrowed, and she was chewing on her lip. "Wha- no, it's my fault for letting myself be seen in the first place! And anyway, I had... I had fun. So stop whining!"

Coral smiled slightly. "You're telling me to stop whining? Who was the one being a baby earlier-"

"Sh-shut up! _Anyone_ would complain if they were forced to wear that thing!"

This time, Coral laughed, and Alda found hersef smiling, then laughing along with her. It felt like the first time she'd ever laughed like that before. Hell, it felt like the first time she'd ever laughed.

The two of them laughed and laughed until their cheeks were red and their sides hurt.

"...Alda?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. And don't worry, I'll sort something out. I won't let them find you." Coral turned and walked into the kitchen. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Yeah, sure." Alda sat down on the couch heavily and wondered what on earth she'd been thanked for.

\------------

Alda sat bolt upright in bed. Her heart was thudding, her breathing uneven and her legs were tangled in the too-warm blankets.

She tried to remember what her dream had been about, but the more she thought about it, the more it slipped from her grasp. Kicking the blankets off her legs, she stumbled out of bed and dropped to her knees on the floor.

Once she'd calmed down and her breathing had returned to normal, Alda stood up, forcing her body into action. She walked over to the window and pulled open the blinds slightly so she could see out.

The weather was about as great as Alda felt. Wind pounded against the glass, grey storm clouds roiled overhead and sheets of rain obscured most of Inkopolis from veiw. Alda guessed it was the early hours of the morning, as the sky was dark and the only lights on were the streetlights, though little good they did in the situation.

There would be no going outside tomorrow - or, well, today - she guessed (although the storm only contributed to some of that). Alda was relieved, but disappointed at the same time. If she couldn't go out, then it would be another day gone to waste. Another day that she hadn't completed her 'mission'.

She gripped the windowsill with both hands. The sense of urgency she felt was increasing. She knew that if she didn't complete her mission and return home soon, she would never be able to again. The very though chilled her to her core; there would be no going back, no second chances.

And yet... a small part of Alda wanted to stay. Just a bit longer, it whispered. Coral had been kind, and shown a whole other side of Inklings, one she hadn't been taught about. The mistrust was still there, but... maybe Alda had been wrong to misjudge Coral. After all, the Inkling had given her food, shelter, warmth, friendliness.

It was more than Alda could've ever asked for. Coral had given her help when she needed it most. She knew she owed Coral a huge debt; if anyone found out that Alda was staying with her, Coral would be in deep shit, Alda knew that for certain.

And yet...

She closed her eyes. Alda hadn't told her about Agent 3. She knew it would only worry the Inkling even more, or maybe she wouldn't believe her at all.

Thunder rumbled, shaking Alda out of her thoughts. Realising she was tired still, she shut the blinds and turned back to the messy bed.

But as much as she tried, Alda couldn't get to sleep for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit is about to go down


	7. Breakages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the author decides to torture you all with terribly written feels.
> 
> Alternative summary: in which the author adds angst that did not need to exist at all.
> 
> Alternative summary #2: in which Alda breaks a plate and then Coral.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :))))

Finn whirled on Ika angrily. "What do you mean 'you must be mistaken'?! Did you forget that there was an actual Octoling sighting not long ago?"

"I- I know that, but Coral would never-"

"We don't know what Coral would do."

Ika's lower lip trembled, and Finn stopped.

"Look, I'm sorry. But if there really is an Octoling in Inkopolis, then I need to get rid of it before it wreaks havoc. Who knows what it's up to?" Finn got up off Ika's sofa and started pacing around the living room.

"Maybe y-you should think this through-"

"I _am_ thinking this through," Finn growled. "I need to have words with that old man. How could he have let an Octoling slip right past him and into our city? Clearly the old fool has no idea what he's doing."

Ika was silent. Then, "maybe you should talk to him, d-devise a plan or - or something."

"Yeah, sure. Coming?"

Ika shook her head. "I-I'm going to stay here, if that's okay?"

"Right, okay. Well, I'm off. See ya."

Ika heard the door slam as Finn left, and she lifted a hand to her head. It were still getting to Finn, even after all these years. Ika had hoped that he'd changed, that he wasn't going to let it change him, but...

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he _was_  still hurt. And Ika knew that if there really was an Octoling in Inkopolis, that it was going to pay very dearly because of it.

* * *

Coral woke to the sound of heavy rain beating against the windows. Wind roared, thunder rumbled, and Coral fet as if the house was going to topple over at any moment. She laid in bed for a while, listening to the raging storm and staring into space. Her eyelids felt heavy, but she was too tired to close them.

She wondered how early it was. From the small amount of light invading her room, Coral could tell that it must be morning already, and looked over at her clock to confirm it.

The digital clock flashed up the numbers 8:04, prompting the inkling to immediately close her eyes and try to will herself back to sleep. It was early and, Coral figured, she was owed a lie-in. So much had happened over the past few days, her brain couldn't quite keep up with it all. She needed time to slow down, to rest, and - now that she thought about it - the sudden storm gave her the perfect opportunity to do just that.

It was going to be great. Peace and quiet and -

_SMASH!_

Coral sat bolt upright, weariness momentarily forgotten. Her first thought was a burglar, but then who the hell would rob a house at 8AM? So that left a few options, one of which was...

"Alda, I swear to god if you've done something stupid..."

She wouldn't put it past the Octoling to fuck something up, so she slid out of bed, slamming the door behind her as she left her room. Storming down the stairs, Coral realized she'd grabbed the knife on her way out. Oh well. It pays to be prepared, right? Of course, it was just a precaution; Alda's mean but she's not that mean.

So then why did Coral's grip on the knife tighten when she reached the bottom of the stairs? Why did she feel tremors all over her body as she approached the door to the sitting room?

She let out a breath when she found the living room empty, but didn't let that bring her guard down as she carried on to the kitchen. Her heart thudded, and she held her breath once more as she reached out for the handle, slowly twisting it.

When it opened, and Coral's eyes alighted on the scene in front of her, she let out a breath and a "are you fucking kidding me?"

"...Whoops?"

"Aren't Octolings supposed to be all dainty and graceful and not... drop plates on the floor?"

Alda straightened up from her fruitless attempt at picking up the shattered plate pieces and glared daggers at Coral. "Rude."

The Inkling sighed, letting the tension drop from her shoulders. "You're lucky it was only a cheap tacky plate you dropped."

"Uh, Coral?"

Coral looked up. Alda was staring at her hand, the one that held the knife. The Octoling's face was blank except for the tiniest hint of fear behind her eyes. "What's the weapon for, huh?"

"Oh. W-well, uh, I thought there was a burglar, so..."

"So you were going to stab them?" Alda raised an eyebrow and put aside some of the peices of broken ceramic she'd picked up.

"It was... just a precaution. It helps to be prepared, right?" Coral couldn't meet Alda's eyes.

Silence fell for a few moments as Alda idly kicked about some shattered plate and Coral tried to soothe her nerves. She hoped to god that Alda wasn't about to ask the question she feared -

"Coral, be honest with me." Alda paused slightly, allowing Coral's heart leap to her throat. "Were you... were you going to stab me?"

Crap.

"What? No- I wouldn't-"

"It's because I'm an Octoling, isn't it?" Alda said bitterly. "I'm an Octoling and you're an Inkling. And I was thinking maybe you weren't so bad after all."

"Listen, Alda-"

"I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses. If you didn't want me here, you could've just told me!"

"It's not that -"

"Then what was it?! Enlighten me, Coral!"

"I was scared, okay?!" Coral bit her lip and stared at the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to suppress the hot tears burning in her eyes. _Shit. Shit shit shit_. She'd always been a crybaby, as much as she tried to hide it behind snarky comments and a confident attitude. She never wanted anyone to see her like this. And yet here she was, tears freely streaming down her face in front of someone she barely knew.

"Coral... I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Coral rubbed her eyes stubbornly and muttered: "dosent matter."

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around her, and her breath hitched. The hug was tentative and uncertain, but warm and welcoming nonetheless. Coral didn't realise she'd dropped the knife until she heard it clatter to the tiles, and she returned the hug with a choked sob. She felt Alda akwardly patting her back, and it brought a small smile to her face.

When they pulled away, Coral rubbed her eyes again for good measure. "I'm sorry. We only met a few days ago and already I'm crying on your shoulder. No wonder your opinions of Inklings are bad." She let out a humourless laugh at that last statement.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I was a bit of an asshole, wasn't I? And besides, I shot you in the first place, so no wonder you're scared of me..."

"I'm not scared of you," Coral said. "I just... I guess I'm not used to having someone around. And I'm not really used to being shot, either."

That brought a smile out of Alda, and Coral breathed again. She turned, bent down and picked up the knife off the floor. "I think I can safely say I don't need this anymore," she said, and watched as Alda's smile widened in gratitude and relief. Coral shoved the knife away in a cupboard and then set her eyes on the broken porcelain scattered across the kitchen tiles.

"I, uh, didn't mean to smash a plate. I was just hungry." Alda sheepishly squatted down and picked up one of the larger pieces. "Still am, actually," she added as an afterthought.

"Pfft. I don't doubt that for a second."

"Hey! Are you just going to stand there and mock me or are you going to help?!"

"You made this mess, if I remember rightly. And anyway, it's just a plate." Coral crouched down and began picking up the pieces despite her comment.

It wasn't the greatest start to the day, Coral admitted, but that didn't mean it wasn't going to be a good day.

She and Alda gathered the rest of the pieces together, sharing a companiable silence.

Yes, it was going to be a very good day. She could feel it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coral is a mess on a morning
> 
> I seem to remember mentioning something about 'making chapters longer'? No idea what that was all about.


	8. Storms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Im so excited bc plot is beginning to happen FINALLY

Alda had had it. She slammed the remote down on the sofa and scowled at the TV, as if she could project her gaze through the screen. "Why is it," Alda started, "that there seems to be absolutely nothing of interest on, _ever_?!" Flopping back on the sofa, she continued to glare at the TV, trying to hold herself back from putting a foot through it.

The storm had continued to rage on, and showed no signs of letting up, so Coral and Alda were stuck in. The Octoling stared out of the window, debating putting a foot through that, too. She felt so restless, she wanted nothing more than to get outside and do something. The faster she got this mission over with, the faster she could get out of this place. Hell, she'd even considered throwing in the towel. Her mission wasn't of any importance, anyway. And it was probable that no-one had even noticed her absence, so she could just continue life as normal.

"What's that sulky face for?" Coral prodded Alda lightly in her side.

"It just sucks to stay in. I'm not getting anything done and it feels like the day's gonna go to waste."

"Well then, let's do something to take your mind off it."

Alda looked over at Coral curiously. "Like what?"

"I have some crappy board games gathering dust in a cupboard somewhere, we should play something. There's nothing else to do, really, so..."

"Yeah, why not?" Alda wasn't sure what Coral had in mind, but she was trying her best to be nice to her after this morning. She didn't want to see her friend like that again.

Wait, 'friend'? Since when was she friends with Coral? Alda's brow furrowed as Coral left the room. What was she to the Inkling, anyway? Did Coral even want her here? Alda had shot her - and Coral had admitted to have been scared. Did that mean she didn't want the Octoling around? And anyway, did Alda even want to be Coral's friend?

No, that was stupid. Inklings and Octolings can't be friends. But... Coral had been so kind to her. She'd given so much more than Alda could've ever asked for in just a few days, and it was more than the Octolings she lived with had ever given her in a lifetime.

But there was so many things that could go wrong. Alda had to return home at some point, and if she'd outstayed her welcome in Inkopolis, then she would most likely not be allowed back. Unless she succeded in her mission, perhaps - but that was a different issue altogether. Or maybe she'd grow too attached to Coral, and be reluctant to leave in the first place.

She rubbed her eyes. Waking up early had taken its toll; Alda was usually well-rested for battles.

The rain was loud on the glass, so Alda abruptly stood up and yanked the curtains closed, obscuring the storm from view. She then resumed her sulking on the sofa, trying not to fall asleep.

Coral returned a few minutes later with boxes piled up in her arms. Plopping them on the floor, she turned to Alda with a grin. Her cheeks were slightly red and she seemed out of breath, if she'd ran down the stairs with the boxes.

Alda picked one of them up. It was long, thin and rectangular, featuring several happy-looking Inklings surrounding a cardboard square.

"So what do you want to play first?" Coral sat down on the floor, and gestured for Alda to sit opposite her, who obliged, slipping off the sofa with all the grace of a fish on land. Coral snickered.

Alda ignored her pointedly, and shoved a random box in her general direction.

"This one? Okay! Do you know how to play it?"

Alda looked at the brightly colored cover. She couldn't even read what it said, nevermind understand the game itself. "Nope."

"It's okay, I'll teach you! Although, I doubt there's any point, since I'm just going to win."

"What?! No way, I'm not letting you win!"

"Oh really? Well, I'm not about to ask for your permission." Coral took the lid off and tossed it to one side. "Okay, so here's how you play..."

Turns out Coral was right. She beat Alda three times in a row, and the Octoling was furious. "How? How do you keep winning?!" She picked up one of the discarded board pieces and considered throwing it at Coral, who just laughed.

"Want a rematch?"

"Of course! I'm not stopping until I win!"

And so the madness contiued well into the afternoon (with occasional snack breaks). Every few games, Coral would swap the board game they were playing with another. Alda turned out to be terrible at squid chess (after her fourth loss, she flipped the board upside down and scattered pieces everywhere). She, however, turned out to be proficient in a game with the main purpose of hitting things. As the little creatures popped up, Alda hit them with a tiny plastic mallet and she got points. She decided she liked that game.

Shoving some food into her mouth, she sat back and watched Coral set up another of the games.

"Ready for another one?"

Alda quickly finished her food, and grinned. "You bet!"

As she went and joined Coral, she found herself completely forgetting about the storm.

\-----------

Finn lay in wait in the ink behind a wall. Two Octosnipers were just ahead of him, their lasers scanning the area - he'd have to be careful to avoid being splatted.

Diving out from behind the wall, he shook off ink and easily took down one of the snipers. He adjusted the Blaster in his hands,  watching out for the laser of the second Octarian. It latched onto his face, and he dodged the purple ink sent his way. Finn retaliated with a round of his own green ink, and the sniper was down.

The agent was on the warpath today. He'd splatted more Octarians than there were kettles, and he'd only been in Octo Valley an hour.

Straightening up, he looked at the screen-covered ceiling. He couldn't hear the pattering of rain through the pounding music, but he knew that it was still there. The storm wasn't going away any time soon, so Finn recharged his ink tank before continuing the mission.

It didn't take him much longer to retrieve the zapfish, and he soon emerged from the kettle. He'd been right. The rain hadn't let up, and Finn soon found himself drenched.

Shit, he thought. He was going to get splatted if this kept up; he was already dizzy and nauseous from the water.

Out of the corner of his eye, Finn caught sight of another invisible kettle, the last before the boss. The rain bounced off it, giving away its presence. It made itself known with a high pitched wheeze (which Finn could barely hear through the rain) once the Inkling shot at it, and he jumped in.

When he came out the other side, Finn took a shuddery breath and shook off a few lingering drops of water. He hefted his Blaster and surveyed the area, noting the suspicious lack of troopers.

Stepping off the respawn pad, he quickly squeezed his eyes shut as the world began to spin again. Damn Inklings and their stupid vulnerability to water. He was lucky he'd gotten out of the rain so soon; if he'd stayed out any longer he'd probably be dead.

Finn waited for the dizziness to recede, then reopened his eyes and took another look around the stage. Even as he took a few more steps forward, not a single Octarian showed it's face.

He continued forward, pausing every now and again to check for enemies. When he reached the first checkpoint, he frowned.

If there was no-one about just yet, it must mean that he was most likely to encounter some Octolings. Finn's face turned sour.

And - much to his displeasure - he was right. Moments after he'd had that thought, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and whirled around. An Octoling danced about nearby, spreading ink and Finn's disappointment.

Finn gritted his teeth and leaped after her, his Blaster aimed at her head. He sent a shot at her, but she simply avoided it, smiling. Not for the first time, the Inkling cursed the short range of his weapon.

He charged up to her before she could ecape, dodging a splat bomb she sent his way. His Blaster bucked in his hands as he shot the Octoling again, this time effectively splatting her.

Dizziness now completely forgotten, Finn recharged in a patch of green ink. He then took the opportunity to look around again, eyeing his immediate surroundings warily, ready for any more Octoling attacks.

Sure enough, another Octoling came into sight as he advanced, and he noted her black tentacles and the kelp that marked her as one of the elite.

When she saw him, she burst into action. Finn found himself dodging more than attacking as the Octoling shot at him with a frenzy he'd never seen before. She was getting closer and closer, her attacks almost hitting home and Finn was soon out of ink, with not enough time to recharge.

He'd never seen an Octoling act like this before. Shaking his Blaster desperately, he tried to get more ink out of it as he watched the Octoling stalk towards him, Octoshot pointed directly at his head.

Her sharp teeth were bared and Finn swore she gave a snarl before he suddenly emerged from his first checkpoint. He was shaken; he hadn't even noticed being splatted.

Finn stepped off the pad, immediately looking up and spotting the first Octoling up ahead. He shot it down easily this time, not even paying much attention. Once it'd gone, he looked around again, searching for that elite Octoling.

This time, he saw her before she saw him. She was pacing around on top of a wall, looking agitated. The Inkling felt a deep unease take root in his stomach, but chose to ignore it.

 _Oh, who cares?_ Finn smiled rather nastily. _If this Octoling thinks she's going to give me a bad time, then she can think again._

He walked forward deliberately, watching as she caught sight of him. She leapt off the wall and landed before him, and Finn readied a bomb in case she decided to do something stupid.

She didn't this time, though. Her arms were at her sides, her Octoshot pointed uselessly at the ground. Dodging the ink Finn sent at her, she reached where he was standing and seized the front of his jacket. He was so shocked, he didn't even notice as she knocked his weapon from his hands.

"Where is she?" The Octoling hissed, jamming the point of her gun into Finn's head. "What have you done to her?"

The Inkling blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play stupid with me, Inkling. What have you done with my daughter?!"

"...What?"

She jabbed her gun point hard onto his head and he winced slightly as he felt it leave an indent in his skin. "You've done something with her, haven't you? Where is she? Where is Ald-"

Finn had had enough - his patience had worn thin. He tore the gun from the Octoling's hands, using it to hit her in the face. As she was momentarily distracted, he shoved her off him roughly and scrambled to pick his discarded Blaster up off the floor.

He put the weapon to the Octoling's head, and she froze. "Look," he said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, or who you've lost."

She grimaced.

"But," he continued, "I plan to find out." And with that, he splatted her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna have a bad time
> 
> *Megalovania starts playing*


	9. Bandages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to my left eye, which decided to fuck itself up halfway through writing this chapter.

Sylvette ceased her pacing as an Octoling strode into the room. They had a file under one arm, and they handed it to her, saying: "I take it ya didn't have any luck findin' her?"

Snatching the documents off her colleague, Sylvette turned away. "No. I was... unsuccessful. Even that stupid Inkling was of no help to me. He seemed to have no idea what I was talking about." She began to flick through the pages in the file, and felt her heart plummet through the floor.

"I brought ya her file... I thought maybe it'd help ya in your search."

Sylvette thanked them stiffly and placed the documents on her desk.

The Octoling continued: "ya don't think she's..." they seemed to struggle to find the right words, "following in her father's footprints?"

Sylvette froze. "Don't you dare. We don't speak of that man, ever. He is a disgrace to all Octolings, and never would my daughter do anything like what he did. Besides, we've kept her from Inklings all her life, there's no way she'd even think of..."

"Elopin' with one?" The Octoling suggested.

Whirling around, Sylvette slapped them in the face. "Leave. I do not want you and your disgusting words in this room any longer. If I was in my right mind, I would fire you on the spot. As it is, I cannot risk losing a worker that has been with me as long as you have." She took a breath, steadying herself. "Your attitude is appalling - I don't know why I keep you here. Get out, I'll deal with you later."

"As ya wish."

When the door slammed shut  behind them, Sylvette turned back to the file on her desk. Picking the folder up, she pulled out the first sheet of paper. She was expecting more but it contained simply a photograph of a young Octoling and a few words.

Sylvette felt her heart clench in guilt and despair. "Oh, Alda. Please come back..."

* * *

"It's not coffee, I promise!" Coral nudged the mug against Alda's arm.

"And why should I trust you?"

"Because I'm a trustworthy person?" There was a slight pause. "Oh, come on!"

"Fine, fine..."

"Besides," Coral handed the warm mug to Alda, "it's my favorite drink besides coffee." She watched as the Octoling took a careful sip. "It's called hot chocolate. Do you like it?"

Apparently she did. Alda took a few more - less careful - sips and Coral settled back on the sofa with her own mug. When Alda finally came up for air, she turned to Coral with her rare smile. "Thank you."

"It's no problem." The Inkling busied herself with her hot chocolate, curling her hands around the mug and returning Alda's smile.

The pair were quiet for a while, drinking their chocolate, before Alda spoke up. "Um, Coral?"

"Yes?" Coral looked up.

Alda was staring into her mug, all traces of a smile gone. "Do you think - I mean, can we be friends?"

"What? Alda - of course, you idiot! Of course we're friends!"

Alda didn't smile. "But... I _shot_ you. Your shoulder - oh shit, Coral, your shoulder!"

"Huh?" Glancing down at her top, Coral was surprised to see blood seeping through it. "Oh. Well, there goes my favorite shirt. I don't think I wrapped the wound properly. Nevermind, I always knew I was never fated to become a doctor -"

"Coral, would you shut up for a second?" Alda put her mug down on the floor, then turned to the injured Inkling.

"That's not very nice."

Ignoring her, Alda reached out and seized the wet cloth of Coral's ruined shirt. Then, in one fluid motion, she tore the fabric of the shoulder off.

"Hey! You could've at least asked. 'Hey, Coral, can I rip up your favorite shirt?' I mean, put like that, I would've probably said no, but-"

"Coral! _Shut up_!"

Coral shut up.

"Finally," Alda muttered, and started pulling off the bandages. "You've wrapped this terribly."

"Again with the rude comments. When will it end?"

To the Inkling's amusement, Alda kept on ignoring her, instead focussing on pulling off Coral's wrappings. Coral inhaled sharply when Alda pulled on part of the bandage that was stuck to the wound, and the Octoling muttered a quick 'sorry' before dumping the stained bandages on the floor. Standing up, she said: "do you have any more?"

"Any more what? Rude comments? Isn't that your forte-"

"No, bandages, you idiot."

"In the cupboard next to the mugs -"

Alda had already gone before Coral could finish her sentence. As she waited for her to come back, Coral took a look at the now uncovered bullet wound. Just looking at it made bile rise in the back of her throat, so she quickly focused her gaze elsewhere.

Her mug decidedly wasn't a good place to look, either. Coral (unsurprisingly) found herself not wanting to ingest anything ever again. She put the drink down on the floor next to Alda's, and looked up just in time to see said Octoling emerge from the kitchen.

She seated herself back on the sofa next to Coral, some bandages and a pack of wipes in her hands. "You haven't given me much to work with, you know."

"Sorry, it's just that I'm not really used to being shot. Next time someone plans on shooting me, I'll make sure I'm well prepared." Coral was looking at Alda's face long enough to catch the brief expression of guilt, and instantly felt bad. She mumbled: "sorry" (with less sarcasm this time).

"You have nothing to be sorry about. It was me who shot you in the first place -"

Coral interrupted. "Alda, listen. You just did what anyone would do in that situation. You were alone in enemy territory, surrounded by what for all you knew where armed Inklings. I don't blame you in the slightest for what you did."

"I guess..."

"Hey, come on. I'm not dead, am I?"

"I - okay." Alda smiled a small smile again, pulling out a few wipes.

"That's two smiles in less than an hour! It must be a new record."

"Oh, shut up." Picking up one of the wipes, Alda began to clean up the blood that had begun to drip down Coral's arm. She worked in silence for a minute or two, clearing away the blood before inspecting the wound itself. "You're lucky it's not infected."

Coral looked away as Alda finished cleaning the injury. The Octoling had almost finished wrapping Coral's shoulder before she deemed it safe to look back at it. "Wow, you're good at this."

Alda laughed without a trace of humour. "You're surprised." It wasn't a question.

Fiddling with the hem of her (sadly out of commission) shirt, Coral resorted once again to mumbling, her words half-forming then deciding that they don't like being words. Coral was fed up. The only thing that seemed to be coming out of her mouth right was mean or snarky comments. Was it really that hard for her to swallow her pride? "I'm not... surprised."

"Could've fooled me. It's fine; I wouldn't have guessed it either." It was silent as Alda finished applying the bandages. Then, "there. You're done."

Coral prodded at the wrappings. "Thank you. Where'd you get so good at wrapping wounds?"

"My father taught me." Alda looked down as she packed away.

"I see. He must've been pretty good at it."

Alda nodded, but didn't say anything else.

"Don't you... miss him?" The Inkling knew she should probably drop the subject, but the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"He... vanished one day when I was young. I never knew what happened to him. So, in answer to your question, no." Pushing herself off the sofa, Alda gathered the bandages and strode away into the kitchen before Coral could even begin to form a reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so yet another OC is introduced. Sylvette is a bit of a dickwad sometimes, but I love her anyway.


	10. Phones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS SO SHORT I'M SO SORRY

The cold, white light of the laptop screen lit up the otherwise dark room. Skimming her hands lightly over the keyboard, Coral waited for the article she had up to load. As the page came into view, Coral took a quick glance at the door, making sure Alda had stayed in her room.

She then reluctantly turned back to the laptop, feeling fear take root in her stomach as she read the article. The big bold words 'Octoling Loose in Inkopolis' were displayed brightly across the top of the screen - oh boy was Coral knee-deep in it now. There was no going back. At least the article was vague, she noted. It didn't seem to have much evidence except for a blurry photo and a 'tip-off from a witness'.

But, even at the very least, it was enough to cause panic amongst the Inklings. _Now it makes sense. The day I met Alda for the second time, the shop I went to was almost empty. And yesterday, when we went to the plaza..._ Coral frowned deeply. _I see. No-one wants to go out when there's a Big Bad Octoling about._

Coral felt a surprising and sudden flare of anger. Having come to know Alda better since the Octoling began staying at her house, she'd decided that all that bullshit about Octarians was... simply that: bullshit. And these Inklings were still stuck in their mouldy old ways. Most of them didn't even believe the Octarians were a threat - thought that didn't seem to have stopped them from hiding away.

Coral's primary concern, though, was this 'witness'. There was a lot more havoc one could wreak than simply notifying the local newspaper, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out what exactly 'more havoc' would entail.

And who was this witness, anyway? Was it someone Coral knew? She clicked around the website for a few minutes, tryingto find the name of the witness, but to no avail. _Well, whoever it was,_ Coral thought, looking at the incredibly blurry photograph, _they have a really terrible phone._

\--------------

"Maybe you should get a new one," suggested Ika.

"But I like this one," Finn grumbled, tapping the lens on the back of his phone irritably.

 _Well, you can't like it that much,_ Ika thought, but decided (wisely) not to voice that particular thought. Instead, she said: "maybe you should go to bed. D-don't you think it's a bit late? You could sort out your phone in the morning."

Finn shoved the offending piece of technological garbage back in his pocket. "Yeah, I guess so." They stood in silence for a few seconds, listening to the rain pelting their umbrellas. Glaring absentmindedly into the sewer grate they were stood next to, Finn spoke up again. "Thanks for waiting for me."

"It's no problem!" Ika sqeaked, surprised. "I just wasn't sure when you were coming out, and what with the rain..." The short Inkling shuffled nervously. "Don't you think it was dangerous going out in it? You could've..."

"You worry too much." Finn gave a lopsided grin. "I'm fine. A little rain never hurt me."

"If not the rain, then what about that loose Octoling? What if it'd-"

Finn's smile disappeared. "Then it'd be dead."

Ika fell silent. She clutched the handle of her umbrella with trembling fingers and looked down at her feet. Little rivulets of rainwater glimmered in the light of a nearby streetlamp, and she watched as water dripped down fron her umbrella to join them. She was glad she'd brought a coat; it was freezing, and while she doubted it'd be enought to cause illness, it was certainly unpleasant. With this in mind, she looked up at her friend and said, "let's go."

\---------------

_Ring ring._

Ika knew she'd lied to Finn about going straight to bed even if she'd meant it at the time.

 _Ring ring_.

She fidgeted with the phone in her hands, waiting for the Inkling to pick up.

 _Ring ri-_ "hello?"

"H-hey, Coral?"

"Oh, hey Ika! You're up late. What's up?"

"I just wanted to ask you something... uh..."

"Fire away."

"Um... did you hear about the Octoling that's loose in Inkopolis?"

There was a slight pause, and then: "oh, yeah, I did. You're not scared, are you?"

It took Ika a second to realise Coral couldn't see her, and she stopped shaking her head. "No, of course not! I was just wondering... have you seen it?"

"Luckily for me, I haven't. Why, have you?"

"No. B-but... I think Finn - nevermind. I was just calling to tell you... be careful, okay?"

"Never fret, Small One. I never leave the house anyway."

Ika smiled at the appearance of her nickname. "O-okay! Well, I'll see you soon! Bye!"

\------------

Coral slowly lowered the phone from her ear, and it switched off, dousing the room in darkness. What was it Ika had begun to say? Something about Finn... Coral gripped the phone and felt her heart skip a beat. Finn wasn't the type to let an Octoling go if he caught one. Finn wasn't the type to forgive if he caught a friend housing said Octoling.

Resisting the urge to curl up and cry, Coral put her phone on her bedside table, where she used to put her knife. It's reflective surface caught the light of the barely visible moon and, to Coral, looked almost as dangerous as the knife that used to be in it's place.

Slipping down as far as she could get under the covers, she tried to get back to sleep. It soon proved to be a pointless and fruitless exercise, though, as Coral found herself very much not asleep. "Stupid Octoling," she muttered. "Stupid Alda, screwing up my sleep schedule."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry for the lack of Alda in this chapter


	11. Sightings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all like memes and sadness

Three weeks passed rather uneventfully. Alda was forced to stay home; Coral had insisted that it was too dangerous to go out in case she was caught. Coral herself mostly stayed in with Alda, occasionally popping out to do the odd few turf wars or go shopping.

All in all, it'd been pretty boring and Alda still had yet to complete her mission. She was on edge; surely they'd noticed her absence by now. She'd have to return soon, otherwise...

But - the part of her that longed to stay with Coral had grown louder and more vociferous. Just a little bit longer, it wheedled. Just wait another couple of days.

Alda was beginning to wonder what she was doing here. She'd left her home in a fit of rage, slipping easily past the Inkling's (frankly, terrible) defences on a mission to prove herself to her mother and the rest of the Octarians, and now... she was lost, completely and utterly. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing anymore. The fury that'd taken her as she ran from home had almost completely dissipated, and Alda was left feeling lost and slightly homesick.

It wasn't all bad, though. Coral seemed to have cottoned on to Alda's dark mood and had spent the past few weeks doing fun things with her, trying to cheer her up. They'd watched stupid cat videos together, they'd cooked, they'd laughed at ridiculously bad movies. And, miraculously, it'd worked. Whenever Alda was around Coral, she forgot all that was weighing her down.

She fiddled with the phone in her hands. Coral's latest ploy to cheer her up was to buy her a phone. Granted, it wasn't the best phone in the world, but Alda didn't think she'd ever be able to convey to Coral just how grateful she was for it. The Inkling had said that it was for safety measures - so that whenever she was out, they could text each other to make sure that Alda stayed safe.

Alda turned the phone on. She had one new message and, seeing that it was from Coral, she opened it. It was a bad pun about cats. She closed it again without replying. However, it vibrated, signalling that Alda had another message.

Coral: Hey, are u sure ur feline fine? ;D (14:37)

Coral: Oi Alda (14:38)

Coral: Reply to me (14:38)

Alda: Can you stop sending me stupid puns (14:38)

Coral: But I think they're purrfect (14:39)

Alda: you're terrible. (14:40)

Coral: I won't be long now. I'm on my way back (14:43)

Coral: And stop insulting my puns! (14:43)

Alda put the phone down next to her. Coral was out picking up some groceries, so Alda was home alone. Normally, she wouldn't mind being alone, but she'd gotten so used to Coral's presence that it just felt so wrong without her.

Just then, voices outside caught Alda's attention, and she froze, listening. Two very familiar voices could be heard, although she couldn't discern what they were saying. She crept up to the window and pulled aside the curtain ever so slightly so that she could peer out.

Alda's gaze hardened when she saw Finn and Coral talking. Finn had, from what Alda could tell, walked Coral home and the two of them stood together, chatting in Coral's front yard. Something about this scene made Alda's blood boil, and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to put a gun to Finn's head.

Sensing that she was gripping the curtain too hard, she was about to let go when Finn turned slightly and looked directly at her. His expression didn't change, but the Octoling didn't stick around to watch it change, letting the curtain swing shut and dropping down.

 _He saw me_. Alda could hear her heart pounding its way out of her chest, and she put a hand to over her mouth to try and slow her panicked breathing. She slid down all the way to the floor, squeezed her eyes shut, then waited until she heard the telltale click of the door being unlocked.

"Alda? I'm back!"

Alda didn't show any recognition that she'd heard. Instead, she curled more in on herself and listened as Coral closed the door behind her. Footsteps could be heard, then -

"Are you in here? Ald- Alda?! What's wrong? Are you - ?" Coral crossed the room hastily and knelt down next to her. "Are you okay?" When there was no reply, Coral put a hand on Alda's arm. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left for so long -"

"He saw me," whispered Alda.

Coral caught on immediately, and paled. "Oh. W-well, he's a friend, I'm sure he'll come around if we just talk to him-"

"No."

"N-no? What do you mean?"

Alda's voice was flat and devoid of emotion. "He won't come around."

"What? Of course he will! I know him, he'll-"

" _Know him?_!" Alda lifted her head and looked at Coral. "You don't know him. You have _no fucking clue_ who he is!"

Coral blanched and pulled her hand back. "And you do, do you?" She said quietly.

"What Octoling doesn't? He's the most infamous fucking asshole of all time!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Coral, don't you get it? _He's Agent 3_."

\--------------------------

"I FUCKING KNEW IT!"

"F-Finn, c-calm down!"

"CALM DOWN?! Coral's got a FUCKING OCTOLING living with her and you want me to CALM DOWN?!?"

Ika swallowed nervously. "M-maybe you didn't see what you thought you saw-"

"Are you _shitting_ me? You're suggesting I'm seeing things? Look, I saw what I fucking saw, okay? There's an Octoling living with Coral, end of fucking story." Finn paused. "Except that isn't the end of the story, is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"A few weeks ago, I had an encounter with this Octoling while I was on a mission. She was fucking insane, she seemed to have some kind of personal vendetta against me - she kept asking me 'where is my daughter?'" Finn started up a hobby of his: pacing around Ika's living room. "By this point, it's obvious who she was referring to."

"That's sad." Ika couldn't help but feel a twinge of sorrow for this Octoling.

"They're Octolings, they don't deserve our pity." When this earned no reply from Ika, Finn continued: "so this Octoling, the one living with Coral. Something's going to have to be done about her."

Ika looked up, shocked. "You don't mean -"

"Kill her? Of course! What do you expect me to do?"

"But what about Coral?"

"Coral can go to hell."

"You're not going to kill her, too, are you?!"

"I'll think on it."

"No! At- at least let me talk to her about this!"

"I'm not killing Coral, relax. But at the very least she should be banished. And if you wanna talk to her, go ahead. It's your fucking funeral."

But Ika didn't care whether or not it was her funeral anymore. She made up her mind. She would help Coral. Knowing her friend had the best intentions, Ika didn't want her to be banished. She had to talk to Coral, and soon, before Finn had a chance to interfere.

\-------------------------------

Alda: Are you awake? (23:14)

Coral: Yeah (23:14)

Coral: Can't you sleep? (23:14)

Alda: No. (23:15)

Coral: Neither can I. (23:15)

Alda: Sorry for yelling at you earlier (23:17)

Coral: its ok (23:17)

Coral: I still can't believe that about Finn, tho (23:17)

Coral: Maybe I should avoid him (23:18)

Coral: For, like, eternity (23:18)

Coral: #yikes (23:18)

Alda: probably (23:19)

Coral: I'm sorry about all this (23:19)

Alda: it's fine (23:19)

Coral: I'm going to have to talk to Finn about all of this (23:20)

Alda: yeah (23:20)

Coral: ur ok with it? (23:20)

Alda: what choice do we have (23:21)

Coral: ominous (23:21)

Coral: I feel like I'm in some fantasy novel (23:21)

Coral: did u fall asleep? (23:24)

Alda: no (23:24)

Coral: didn't think so, somehow (23:24)

Coral: Alda, Master of Not Sleeping When She Should. (23:25)

Alda: Coral, Master of Always Sleeping Except When She Should Actually Be Sleeping. (23:26)

Coral: I've taught u well (23:26)

Coral: I feel like a proud parent (23:26)

Alda: what, for teaching me your garbage talk? (23:27)

Coral: Harsh (23:27)

Coral: Alda, Master Of Rude Statements (23:27)

Alda: Coral, Master of Calling Alda Out On Ever Single Thing (23:28)

Coral: Alda, Master Of Late Night Memes (23:28)

Alda: Coral, Master of Dragging This Joke On Too Long (23:29)

Coral: Oh, come on (23:29)

Coral: Alda, Master of Criticizing My Jokes (23:30)

Coral: Alda? (23:34)

Coral: did u fall asleep (23:35)

Coral: goodnight! (23:37)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIATUS ANNOUNCEMENT: I am going on a (hopefully short) hiatus, as my current situation leaves something to be desired in that it is possible that I may be taken by social services or a child protection agency. I have very limited access to the internet and its a miracle I got this chapter published at all. If I somehow survive the shitstorm that's raging in my house right now, I will update as soon as I can. I have the next chapter written out, and I won't stop writing, so maybe all this will give me some time to write the next few chapters.
> 
> I have no idea when I'll return, but I'm hoping it'll be soon. Until then, bye! ^-^


	12. Visitors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM ALIVE!!!!!! 
> 
> -This chapter was based on that one moment in Steven Universe where Garnet mentions Peridot being harmless and you just hear Peridot's muffled 'IM NOT HARMLESS' from the bathroom.

_Knock knock knock._

Coral froze and, across the table, Alda did the same. Slowly, the Inkling pushed herself up off her chair, looking straight at Alda. _Stay here_ , she mouthed, then left the room. She shut the door behind her, trusting that Alda would keep herself hidden for the amount of time it took for this person to go away.

 _It's probably just some door-to-door salesperson_ , Coral thought to herself. When she reached the front door, she took a deep breath. She just wouldn't invite them in, that's all.

She pulled the door open, then stopped. "Ika?" She'd never been more relieved to see a pair of pink tentacles before. If anyone was easy to get rid of, it was Ika.

As if she'd sensed what Coral was thinking, Ika looked rather nervous. "Um, Coral, c-can I come in?"

"What is it you want?"

"I just need to talk t-to you."

"Well, can't we talk out here?"

"B-but -"

"What is it you need to talk to me about?" Coral felt rather cruel for speaking so harshly, but she wasn't planning on letting Ika see Alda.

"I just - I... I know you have an Octoling living with you."

Silence fell. Coral opened the door a little wider, and took a step back, the invitation clear. She didn't mean to make it seem threatening, but Ika shook as she stepped over the threshold. Coral felt another pang of guilt for the small Inkling. She was being unfair, she knew, but she'd promised she'd do whatever it would take to keep Alda safe.

The click of the front door as Coral closed it set her nerves on edge and she hesitated before turning around to face her guest. "How did you find out?"

"Finn," whispered Ika.

"Of course." Coral's voice matched Ika's: quiet and with the undertone of fear that Coral had come to associate with any mention of Finn. "So, why are you here?"

Ika shuffled slightly. "I want... I want to help you. Finn k-knows now, so he said he's going to kill the Octoling and banish you..."

Coral's hands formed into fists, nails biting so hard into the fragile skin of her palm that they left deep, painful indents shaped like crescent moons. _Shit_. "And by help us you mean...?"

"I don't want to lie to Finn, but I don't want you to get banished. And I don't want anybody to get killed either! I c-can help! I'll t-tell him there isn't an Octoling here!"

Coral relaxed her fists, the crescent moons on her palms glowing an angry red. "You would do that? What if Finn found out?"

"I d-don't care! You think I want my friend banished?!" Ika was on the edge of tears, looking up at Coral with desperation.

"So, you're saying I can trust you?" Wanting nothing more than to give the shorter Inkling a hug, Coral held herself back. Despite her cold words, she felt anything but confident as she watched Ika struggle to form a reply.

"O-of course! I -"

"Wait," Coral cut in, having a sudden thought. "What about Finn? If he knows, doesn't that mean he could be here any second?"

"N-no, I've convinced him to wait a bit. I, um, I told him I was coming here -" Coral's eyes widened, but she let Ika continue "- and t-that I was going to talk to you and see if - if there really was an Octoling here..."

"And what did he say to that?"

"He said lots of swearwords and told me it was my funeral."

Coral snorted. "Typical. Though I suppose he probably regrets it now, I bet he's worried." When Ika didn't reply, she continued: "well, there's nothing to be worried about. Although I bet you're scared, aren't you?"

"No!" Ika shook her head, then, when Coral gave her a look, she hesitated. "Maybe a bit..."

Smiling kindly, Coral patted Ika on the head. "Never fret, Small One. I was scared at first, too. Alda's a little mean, but she'd never hurt anybody. Isn't that right?" This last part was aimed at the closed kitchen doors, behind which a muffled "try me!" could be heard. Coral snickered. "See, completely harmless."

Ika didn't seem convinced. "She hasn't h-hurt you or anything?"

"The only thing she's hurt is my bank balance," Coral said (only half jokingly).

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ika said: "that's good."

"What, that my bank account's been severely wounded?"

"Heh, no, but at least it m-means you'll be doing more turf wars now!"

"Since when was that a good thing?"

"It'll be getting you out of the house more!" Ika beamed.

"Excuse me, Little Miss Outdoors! Who said I wasn't planning on becoming a hermit?" Returning Ika's smile, she turned slightly. Then, gesturing to the sofa, she said: "would you like something to eat or drink?"

Perching herself on the edge of the sofa, Ika nodded. "Um, some t-tea, please."

"Got it," Coral said, and swung open the kitchen doors.

\--------------------

Alda didn't react as Coral shut the doors behind her. She doubted it'd take much for the Inkling to get rid of whoever was knocking; her silver tongue was usually enough to get Alda to shut up on any occasion.

Still, it wasn't often Coral had someone knocking on her door. What if it was Agent 3? Not even a wit as quick as Coral's could stop her from being shot in the face.

As quietly as she could, she slipped from her seat and snuck up to the door, grabbing the handle. She guessed Coral was talking to the visitor now, as she could hear voices, but couldn't make out what was being said. Pushing the door open a crack, she peered out, trying to get a glimpse of the Inkling who'd called. Infuriatingly, they were hidden behind Coral, who was stood in front of the door.

However, Alda could now hear the conversation, and it was this that led her to slamming the door shut again.

"I know you have an Octoling living with you."

 _Fuck_. Backing away from the door, she put a hand over her mouth and watched the handle intently, as if it were a bomb that could detonate at any minute. Images of fully armed Inklings barreling into the room forced their way into Alda's mind and she suddenly felt very sick. Putting a hand on a nearby chair to steady herself, she concentrated on her breathing for a few moments before straightening up and looking back at the door. There was no use in feeling sorry for herself; she needed to know what was going on. She headed up to the door again, but this time, instead of opening it, she pressed her ear up against it. It sounded like Coral had let whoever it was in, and so Alda didn't want to be seen - even if this person already know she was here. Listening intently, she tried to focus on the conversation again.

"I bet you're scared, aren't you?" That seemed to be Coral.

"No!" Came the not-so-convincing reply. "Maybe a bit..." Perhaps Alda shouldn't be worried about platoons of soldiers gunning her down just yet.

"Never fret, Small One - " Alda fought back a derisive laugh. 'Small One?' Clearly anyone nicknamed 'Small One' couldn't be much of a threat. "- I was scared at first, too. Alda's mean, but she'd never hurt anybody. Isn't that right?"

Alda, knowing that this last part was for her, yelled back: "try me!" _Coral, I shot you_ , she thought. _How can you suggest I'm harmless?_ Alda could sense a slight warning in Coral's voice, though, so she didn't say anything further and stayed inside the kitchen.

She didn't listen to the rest of the conversation. Thoughts were running around her brain at a thousand miles per hour, and she got the feeling that if she tried to take in any more she'd explode. The Octoling took a few steps back from the door again, and sat herself down in one of the chairs.

This was a problem. It didn't matter if this person was scared, or if they were nicknamed 'Small One'. Anyone who knew of Alda's existence was a problem. Just because they didn't seem very intimidating didn't mean that they didn't have the power to wreak havoc.

The conversation seemed to have moved to the living room, and Alda shook off any relaxation that'd settled her since 'Small One'. It seemed that the problem wasn't planning on going away any time soon.

Suddenly, the kitchen door swung open, yanking Alda violently from her thoughts. She immediately jumped to her feet, seizing the thing nearest to her (which happened to be the chair she was just sat in) and holding it in front of her like a weapon. Her body tensed up and she pointed the legs of the chair at the now open door, ready to fend off any incoming attacks. However, instead of being faced with a platoon of armed Inklings, one very shocked and bemused Inkling stood blinking at her.

Alda dropped the chair on the floor with a loud _thud_.

"...Sorry, I must've startled you." Coral tentatively walked over and picked the chair up, setting it upright. "Are you okay?"

Words evaded the Octoling, who instead settled for fuming and glaring daggers at Coral (who seemed to get the message).

"I'm making a cup of tea for Ika," Coral said, pulling out a mug from one of the cupboards (the cupboard Alda knew to be the Mug Cupboard, the home of Coral's never-ending mug collection). "Do you want to help?"

Nodding, Alda came to stand next to her, automatically flicking on the already full kettle. She then watched as Coral retrieved various items from around her (a pint of milk, a teabag). The Inkling's movements were slow and deliberate, as if Alda was a startled deer. Alda felt a flash of both warmth and irritance - the warmth because of Coral's consideration, the irritance because of Alda's unwillingness to be treat like a delicate ornament. The irritance won out, and she picked up a teaspoon and started stabbing the counter with it.

"Hey," said Coral, gently pulling the spoon from Alda's grasp. "I'm not sure what the counter's done to offend you, but it can't have been that bad."

Alda allowed Coral to take custody of the (now rather bent) spoon. It was quickly replaced with an unopened bag of sugar and a different (less bent) spoon.

"I don't trust you to spill boiling water eveywhere, so I announce you in charge of the sugar." Coral then poured the water and milk into the mug with the teabag, leaving Alda free to rip open the bag of sugar. Sticking her spoon into it, she mixed it, watching as the larger clumps of sugar came apart. It made a strange noise, too, something like _shff shff shff_.

"Here, put a couple of spoonfuls in," said Coral, holding out the now tea-filled mug.

Alda looked at Coral's hands. Curved indents had been left in her palms, as if she'd been clenching her fists. The indents were crescent-shaped and furiously red.

Alda did as asked, spooning up some sugar and then holding it over the mug. Her hand chose that moment to jerk wildly, though, and hundreds of tiny white grains went scattering across the counter.

Coral only smiled patiently. "It's okay, you can just try again."

And so Alda did. This time, the sugar made it to the mug, and Coral beamed. She gave the cup a quick swirl, swiped some sugar off the table, then turned to the Octoling with the mug in her hands. She looked rather proud, for some reason, even though all Alda had done was spill sugar everywhere.

"Come on, let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Coral took out the teabag.
> 
> ... Can you tell I'm British?


	13. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There isn't a 'Graphic Scenes of Violence' warning on this fic for no reason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter because im a shit and my life is as crappy as ever

Since meeting Ika, Alda had been put somewhat at ease. It was hard to be scared of someone like Ika. The Inkling was short and chubby, with brown skin and eyes. Her tentacles were pink, she had a childlike aura and was prone to stammering. So, all in all, Ika was the least bit intimidating and, frankly, was not the sort of person she'd expected to show up at Coral's door. In fact, Alda wondered how on earth the two of them had come to be friends in the first place - they were just so different. Coral had pale skin and icy blue eyes that, as well as matching her tentacles, portrayed a completely different personality to Ika (for example, Coral was often incredibly rude, Ika was not).

"Y-you must've learnt a lot about each other in the time you've been living together!"

Alda snorted. "There are some things you don't want to learn. For example, did you know that Coral owns 85 mugs?"

"S-seriously?"

"Hey, I don't see how that's a bad thing! I'll have you know that my mug collection is a work of art-"

"It's not a work of art when it's 2am and a mug comes falling off the the shelf onto my head as soon as I open the damn cupboard!" Alda retorted.

"That was one time! And anyway, who needs a mug at 2am?"

"I needed a drink!"

"At 2am?" Coral raised an eyebrow.

"How did y-you find out Coral had 85 mugs?" Interjected Ika.

Coral laughed as she recalled what happened. "Alda got curious and we ended up sat on the floor in the kitchen counting them all!"

Ika giggled.

"It was your idea," said Alda.

"I think mugs are a touchy subject for Alda," Coral remarked to Ika.

"Alright then, what do we know about each other besides mugs?" Alda smirked. "I know! What about that one time I caught Coral rolling around on the floor wrapped in a blanket?"

"Well, I once -" Coral turned to Ika exitedly. "One time, after a turf war, I forgot to change my tentacle colour back, so when I got home, at first Alda didn't recognize me!" Coral chortled. "She then tried to attack me with a cushion, but that's not the point."

"The cushion was the closest thing to me!" Alda glared, her cheeks slightly red.

"Ah yes, Alda and her improvised weapons. Didn't you attack me about an hour ago with a chair?"

"Chairs make good weapons," protested Alda.

Ika giggled again, and Coral followed soon after saying: "I can imagine you - riding majestically into battle with a _chair_!"

Alda flushed. "I never said a chair was my first weapon of choice," she mumbled, trying to defend herself, but Coral and Ika only laughed harder.

When the laughter died down, Ika spoke up again. "S-so, Coral, have you introduced Alda to the Squid Sisters yet?"

Coral gasped. "I can't belive I haven't!" Whipping out her phone, she pulled up a picture of two strange-looking Inklings and showed it to Alda. "That one," she said, pointing to the greener of the two, "is my favorite. Marie."

"What?!" Exclaimed Ika. "I think C-Callie's better -"

Coral snorted. "Not a chance." She then, to Alda's dismay, proceeded to get into an argument with Ika over which weird-looking Inkling was best.

Alda took the phone from Coral's hand and looked at the image. Weird Inkling #1, the pink one, had a big grin on her face and a microphone in her hand. Maybe they're singers, then. Weird Inkling #2, Coral's favorite, was the green one. Assumedly, she was called 'Marie'. By process of elimination, then, Weird Inkling #1 must be 'Callie'.

There was a link underneath the picture, and Alda tapped it. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but the link took her to a video, clearly of the weird Inklings - Callie and Marie - singing. Dubiously, she turned the volume up, thinking that even if it was terrible (which it probably was) then at least it would distract her from Coral and Ika's quarrel.

As the video started and the Squid Sisters began to sing, Alda found herself entranced. The music was fast paced, the voices sweet and the beat set her heart racing. It was vastly different to the music pounding through the Octoling's underground home. It was lighter, more playful and spoke of fun and happiness. The music back home was vastly different, and the contrast between the two sounds disconcerted Alda. Nevertheless, she found herself enjoying the Squid Sisters' song.

"They're good, aren't they?"

Alda looked up at Coral, and nodded. Her smile lit up the room.

\---------------------

An Octoling strode into the dark room Finn was in, the door creaking loudly as it swung shut behind her. Finn writhed and struggled against the ropes, trying in vain to free himself. His wrists were tied painfully tightly to the armrests, and, try as he might, the bonds wouldn't loosen.

The Octoling laughed disdainfully, and stalked forward to pull off the tape on Finn's mouth. Immediately, the captive Inkling let out a growl.

"Now now," purred the Octoling, "play nice." She picked up an item from a table nearby, and showed it to Finn. "I don't want to have to use this, do I?"

Finn guessed from the look in her eyes that she'd love to use it, but kept his mouth shut, stemming the flow of insults, obscenities and sarcastic remarks waiting to flow out.

The Octoling smiled. "Much better." She kept the item in her hands, though, and its sharp point caught the light of the only lamp in the room. "Now," she said. "Where is she? What have you done with her?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

 _SLAP_! Finn's right cheek stung.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying to you."

"Listen, you Inkling scum. I'll let you go if you tell me where _the fuck_ my daughter is!"

"I told you, I DON'T KNOW!"

"Yes you do! _Tell me!_ "

Finn spat at the Octoling, and he could almost see something inside her snap.

"Alright then, let's have it your way," she snarled, and seized Finn's arm, jerking up his sleeve. Finn writhed violently, knowing what was about to come.

In one hand, the Octoling held a small needle, the other hand was busy restraining Finn's arm against the armrest. He flung a stream of curse words at her, but she didn't seem fazed as she readied her needle.

"Stay still, will you?" She said. "This might hurt a little."

She then jammed the point of the needle into Finn's arm, and pressed down the trigger. Finn screamed as the purple ink the Octoling had injected into him entered his bloodstream.

Thrashing wildly, he pressed against the cords holding him down, twisting and bucking and doing anything that might free him of this excruciating pain. He barely heard the Octoling laugh over his own agonized screams.

It felt like his veins were on fire, his entire body was on fire - when would it end - why wouldn't it _end - MAKE IT STOP -_

Finn sat bolt upright in bed. His heart was thudding and cold sweat trickled down his back. Stumbling blindly out of bed, a wave of dizziness encased him and he collapsed to the floor. He stayed there for a while, until he no longer wished for immediate death. He stayed there for a _long_ while.

When he finally regained the will to live (or, at least, the will to move), he dragged himself into a sitting position. _What the fuck was that dream?_ Parts of it were already slipping away, but Finn could still recall the vivid pain he felt, as if it were real. He was pretty sure that that wasn't how dreams were supposed to work, but he brushed the thought aside.

Giving up on all hope of ever getting back to sleep, he put his head into his hands and waited for the sun to rise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was barely edited so I'm sorry for how rough it is ;-;


	14. Cushions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's so much Gay in this chapter oh my actual god

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> screams

"Hey, move over."

Alda didn't budge.

Coral prodded her lightly. "Hey."

Alda still didn't move.

"Oi, get off my sofa."

"Why? I was here first."

"The sofa's big enough for two people, you know. Move over."

"No. I like it like this." Alda stayed in her position, sprawled out on the sofa, eyes glued to the TV.

Coral didn't reply. She stared down at Alda contemplatively for a second, before seizing a cushion and whacking the Octoling over the head with it.

"Wha- _Coral_!"

A grin split Coral's face, and she darted backwards out of Alda's reach. "You deserved that."

Alda grabbed a cushion and flung it in Coral's direction, jumping off the sofa. To her disappointment, the Inkling caught it easily and sent it flying back at Alda. It bounced off her tentacles and she yelled: "oh come on, that's not fair! You've hit me twice now!"

"All's fair in love and war," said Coral, and Alda had a second to think ' _love?_ ' before Coral charged her with a cushion, knocking her to the ground.

An all-out pillow fight ensued. Cushions flew across the room, blood was spilt (not really) and one of Coral's precious mugs was brutally shattered. At the end of it, Coral and Alda laid amidst the wreckage, out of breath. Their sides and cheeks hurt from laughing, and they were both bright red, still grinning.

Coral looked over to Alda. The Octoling's cheeks were pink, and she was breathing heavily, her chest rising up and down in time with her breaths. The two made eye contact and shared a smile.

Pushing herself into a sitting position, Coral surveyed the damage. If she was being honest with herself, she'd say that it looked like several inkstrikes had gone off in her living room, but she wasn't, and so she chose to ignore the wreckage and turned to Alda. The Octoling was also now sat up and looking at her. "Should we tidy this up?"

"Nah," said Coral. "I've got a better idea."

                      -------------------

The Inkling returned a minute later with an armful of blankets, and dumped them on Alda's head.

"Hey! Are you done with thowing things at me yet?! What am I, your personal punching bag?" Pulling the mass of blankets out of her way, Alda glared at Coral. "What are these for, anyway?"

Coral grinned. "A blanket fort!"

"A... what?" Alda looked blankly at her.

"Don't tell me you've never built a blanket fort before."

"What's a blanket fort?"

"Oh my cod." Coral put a hand over her eyes. "Right, that settles it. We're making a fort right now!" She bent down and picked up one of the blankets, slinging it over one arm. "A blanket fort is like... a little nook made out of blankets n' stuff. It's really fun! I haven't made one in ages, so I thought maybe..." she trailed off, looking at Alda hopefully.

Alda looked at her. "And you want to build a blanket fort with me?"

Coral nodded.

"Alright, then. It seems like a stupid and pointless waste of time, but we've already destroyed the living room, and if this is gonna get me out of cleaning it, then I'm all in." Alda stood up, taking the blanket from Coral and holding it up. "So, uh, how do you actually make one?"

"Like this," said Coral, and she set to work.

Alda watched as she dragged pillow after pillow into place, brought over chairs, duvets and cushions.

"The chairs hold it up," she explained.

"And the blankets go on top?" Alda held up the blanket she had in her hand.

"Bingo," said Coral, and stood back as Alda placed the blanket carefully over the top of the fort.

The two of them admired their handiwork. The fort was rather small, but with enough room for them to sit in.

Alda turned to Coral. "And now what?"

"We should watch a film in it! Blanket forts are really comfy, so films just seem better when watched in a fort. And anyway, we wouldn't want all our - well, my - work to go to waste."

"I feel like I've let you have your own way too much today."

"'Let me'? Who's the generous host here?" Coral smiled as Alda rolled her eyes, but didn't give a response. "Want me to make some popcorn? Oh wait, I'm the host. I'm making some popcorn." The Inkling resisted the urge to flip Alda off, leaving the room to get the snack.

Alda muttered a few choice curse words under her breath, but little effort was put into making them sound as venomous as they usually would. She shook her head and watched Coral leave, trying in vain to stop the smile creeping across her face. Turning to look at the fort, she let her smile grow. It might have been a stupid waste of time, but at least it looked pretty comfortable.

The Octoling stood there for a second, listening to Coral moving around the kitchen. She seemed so happy today. Alda's smile grew even more, and she put both her hands on her cheeks and squeezed. "Stop smiling so much, goddamit," she mumbled to herself.

                     -------------------

Alda and Coral stayed in the blanket fort well into the night. They watched films, talked and ate Coral's entire stash of popcorn - not that Alda was _trying_ to eat all the popcorn, it just... happened.

The fort was warm, and occasionally stuffy, but was cozy and comfortable. Alda shuffled her legs around under the blanket, trying to concentrate on the movie they were watching. It seemed to be something to do with pirates, but Alda had long stopped paying attention. The hazy heat of the blankets was making her sleepy, and she fought off the waves of drowsiness even as they dragged her down into their embrace.

One of the characters in the film - a pirate, apparently - made a strange 'YARRR' sound and Alda snorted. She heard Coral burst into giggles beside her, and uncharacteristically did the same. "I need to fucking sleep," mumbled Alda through drunken laughter.

"Fucking do it then," Coral muttered. Her cheeks were pink both from laughing and from the warmth of the fort. Or maybe it was something else, Alda didn't know. "And stop fucking swearing."

"Don't tell me what to fucking do," whispered Alda, and the pair burst into laughter again.

"You really need to sleep."

"Yeah," said Alda. Her eyelids started to droop, and she yawned. "Need to get out of the fort to sleep, though."

"Mmn."

The Octoling felt a weight drop onto her shoulder, and looked over. Coral had seemingly fallen asleep, her head resting on Alda. If she hadn't have been so tired, she'd have pushed the Inkling off, but as it was, she was falling asleep herself. Just before she gave in to the lull of sleep, she looked down at Coral and smiled. And then she slept, and it was the most peaceful night of sleep she'd had in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to hold back on making it really really gay but it's not working sEND HELP


	15. Melodies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm late, I know >~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok but since it's April Fools Day please imagine Coral and Alda playing pranks on each other because they totally would

 

Finn's fingers traced the keys on the piano lightly. He'd been sitting motionless for a while now, in silence. No enchanting melody drifted through the apartment, and it was rather unnerving. A thick, heavy silence weighed down the air in the room, a silence that tangled itself in one's thoughts and dragged them down into the depths of an ocean.

Finn pressed down a single key, and a sweet and sincere note shattered the silence. He pressed another, and another, until his hands were spinning webs of ethereal music, dispersing the lingering spell of despair that clutched at the fabric of Finn's clothes desperately as it vanished. His hands took over, weaving melodies that seemed more like magic than music.

Then the song ended, and the darkness crept back in. The sudden absence of the music made the silence that much more deafening, and Finn suddenly stood up, knocking his chair over. It hit the ground with a loud thud, but he ignored it and walked away.

 

* * *

 

The next day, he was sat at his piano again. This time, though, he wasn't alone; as he pressed down the keys, a voice accompanied his playing. It was soft and sweet, and it came from the Inkling sitting next to him. Her pink tentacles shone in the overhead light, and she didn't stutter once while singing, her voice bright and unwavering.

Ika sang, her voice harmonizing with Finn's music to create something new, something neither of them could be without the other.

Although, Finn was pretty sure that whatever it was was inspired by the Squid Sisters.

This time, when the music ended, there was no darkness invading his mind, no silence whooshing back in to replace where the music had been. Ika beamed up at him. "I liked that one! I love your piano playing - when you play, it's like a big hug!"

"It's great having musical friends, huh?" Finn muttered.

"Yeah," said Ika enthusiastically. "It's like we can hug through our music even though you don't like hugs in real life!"

Finn paused, and turned to her. "Thank you," he said.

"It's no problem! A-after all, it's great having musical friends, right?"

"Yeah, it's... really great." And he smiled.

* * *

 

"He trusts me," wailed Ika. "He trusts me, and I'm lying to him!"

"Well then, why don't you just go tell him?" Alda said savagely. "Go tell him all about us, then you two can go back to being all buddy-buddy and _truthful_ to each other."

Coral elbowed her, hard. "Alda, you're not helping." She turned back to Ika and said: "look, Ika, I know you feel bad about this, but you have to keep this secret! If you don't, and Finn finds out, you know what'll happen to me and Alda." Coral drew a finger across her neck, and Ika shuddered.

"I... yeah, y-you're right."

Coral sighed. "I'm sorry you have to keep lying to him."

"N- no, it's okay! I want to keep you a-and Alda safe, so... I'll do whatever it takes!"

"Whatever it takes, huh?" Alda asked. "I don't suppose you can tell us why exactly Finn hates Octolings so much?"

"A-actually," Ika chewed on her lip, "I think I can. I d-don't want to say too much, but... I think... if it'll help you..."

"Get on with it!"

Coral elbowed Alda again.

"O-okay, well... it all started with F-Finn's dad. He wasn't very n-nice, really, and, uh, Finn's mother had had enough. So, um, one day, she ran away, and l-left Finn with his father. He, uh, wasn't r-really very happy about that..."

"But how do Octolings come into this?"

"Th-that's the thing. Finn's mother d-didn't just run away, she, well... she eloped. With an Octoling." Ika sighed. "I-it's rather sweet, if you think about it, but..."

"Not for Finn," Coral finished.

"Not for Finn," Ika repeated glumly.

"So... now he blames Octolings for taking away his mother."

"That's stupid," remarked Alda. "It's only one idiotic Octoling that's to blame, not the entire population."

"How long ago was this?" Coral asked.

"About... um, n-nine years ago," replied Ika, worrying at the hem of her cardigan.

"What?" Alda asked nervously. Her fingers found a small rip in Coral's sofa, and she started pulling stuffing out. "Don't suppose you know that Octoling's name?" Her voice held an uncharacteristic twinge of uncertainty that Coral picked up on immediately.

"I- I think Finn might have mentioned it b-before? So- something beginning with a C, maybe..."

"Caspian," whispered Alda. "Is that it?" She asked, her voice rising. "Caspian?"

"I- y-yes, I think it is..."

"I fucking knew it." Alda's hands shook with rage and she ripped the hole she'd made in the sofa wide open. Stuffing dusted the floor.

"Alda?" Coral's eyes dragged themselves off the mess the Octoling had made, and she asked: "do you know them?"

"KNOW THEM?!" burst out Alda. "Do I FUCKING know them?! I wish I _didn't_!"

"Wha - why?" Blinking in confusion, Coral asked: "what's wrong? Who -"

" _Shut up!_ "

Coral flinched.

The Octoling didn't say a word further, leaping from the sofa and storming from the room, slamming the door behind her.

"What just... happened?" Ika asked, trembling.

Shaken, Coral said: "she recognized the name."

"D-did I say something wr-wrong?"

"No, no, you didn't," reassured Coral. "She's been angry plenty of times before."

"B-but where's she gone?"

"Probably to her room to throw a tantrum."

Right on cue, a loud _SLAM_  could be heard as Alda closed her door a little too violently for either of the Inkling's likings.

"Wh-why?"

"I don't know," said Coral grimly. "You should probably go home. I'll have to find this out myself, and she probably won't talk while you're here. I'm sorry," she added, seeing the crestfallen look on Ika's face.

"It's okay!" Ika got up from her chair. "W-will you text me a-and tell m-me how it g-goes?"

"Of course I will."

"Thank y-you."

When Ika left, Coral turned around to face the stairs. "What's going on, Alda?" She mumbled. "What aren't you telling me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OoooooooOooOooOoOOOo
> 
> And so the plot thickens... again.


	16. Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes this is the second time I've updated in two days 
> 
> Your point???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right ok so from now on I'm not putting negative things abt myself in the notes
> 
> ... anyway this chapter is shit ok
> 
> OK OK I'M STOPPING

Coral knocked on Alda's door softly. "Alda?"

"Go away," came the muffled reply.

"I just want to talk to you."

"Well, I don't want to talk to you," snarled Alda.

"Let me in."

"No."

The Inkling tried to open the door but, to her dismay, found she couldn't. She heaved against it, but it didn't give. "Alda, what have you put in front of the door?" There was no reply. "Why won't you talk to me?"

"Because it's none of your business! Go away!"

"I'm not going away until you tell me what's wrong! And who this 'Caspian' person is!"

"Well, you're going to be waiting a long time then, aren't you?"

Coral suddenly had an idea. "Ugh," she groaned. "There are so many better things I could be doing with my time, but no! I have to pander to a big baby who sits in her room, feeling sorry for herself!"

" _Excuse me?!_ "

"I mean, what a childish way to behave!"

"No it isn't!"

Coral grinned. "Alda, the big baby who throws tantrums and-"

There was a shuffle behind the door, then it swung open wildly. Alda stood behind it with the most grumpy and irritated expression that Coral had ever seen her wear. Without a second's hesitation, the Inkling flung herself forwards, wrapping her arms around Alda to stop her from closing the door. Startled, Alda was overbalanced by Coral and the pair crashed to the floor.

"Ow," Alda muttered.

" _Finally_ ," gasped Coral. She pushed herself up slightly, looking down at the Octoling almost gleefully. "I thought you'd never open the door!"

"And you thought insulting me was the best way to get me to do it?" Trying not to pay attention to the proximity of their faces, Alda went slightly red and she turned her face away.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"I hate you," mumbled Alda.

"Yeah, yeah." Coral pushed herself off Alda and rolled until she was lying next to her. They were quiet for a while, until Coral eventually spoke up again: "do you want to tell me about what happened earlier?"

"No."

"Okay." She hesitated, then: "do you want me to go?"

"No."

"Okay."

* * *

 

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Sylvette exploded, tossing her papers to the floor. "IT'S BEEN OVER TWO MONTHS!"

"Commander Sylvette, please, calm yourself."

"OVER TWO MONTHS, AND WE STILL HAVEN'T FOUND HER!" Stalking over to her colleague, she hissed: "why is this?"

"We're doin' the best we can -"

"It's not GOOD ENOUGH!" Sylvette seized the front of the Octoling's uniform and dragged them closer to her. "My patience," she snarled, "is wearing thin. I want her found, and I want her found _now_."

"Funny, ya weren't so desperate to see her a few months ago," the Octoling remarked coyly. When Sylvette went to interrupt, they continued: "besides, there's some places we can't search."

Sylvette caught on immediately. "So you're saying... But that's impossible! How would she have gotten in? Do not think to trick me, Arden. I know your slippery ways."

Arden raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Don't play innocent with me. I've caught you stealing food from the mess hall before, amongst other acts that could get you demoted - or even fired - if anyone but me had seen you. Now, I'll ask you again. Do you know anything about Alda's whereabouts?"

Arden grinned slyly. "Indeed I do. But I'm workin' on pure suspicion and gut instinct here. After all, if I were Alda, that's exactly where I'd go."

"And of course, this place just has to be..."

"Why, Inkopolis, of course. Where else?"

Sylvette let go of the front of the Octoling's uniform. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Well," said Arden, straightening their creased shirt, "I should probably scope around the city, look for clues, ya know?"

"Assuming you know your way around the city."

Arden winked.

Sylvette sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Don't tell me you've been there before."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Now," they said, "don't suppose you've got a secret exit or two hidden up your sleeve, do ya?"

"Shouldn't you be asking yourself that?" Turning away from the other Octoling, she bent down to pick up a few of the scattered papers.

Arden grinned. "Just checkin'." Whirling around dramatically, they strode towards the exit, a bounce in their step. "Guess I should set off now, shouldn't I?"

"What, now?" Sylvette straightened up, shooting a look at Arden. "We need to make preparations, you need special permission-"

"Whatever," they waved a hand flippantly. Sticking their tongue out in defiance, Arden swung the door shut behind them.

Sylvette gawked. There was no other Octoling she knew of that was so blatantly disrespectful and arrogant as Arden, yet they were her most trusted soldier. If anyone could find Alda, it was them. Sylvette heaved a sigh, and returned to picking up her discarded documents. Arden was a handful, a petty thief and a liar,  but when it came to their duties they performed them excellently, easily outstripping their peers. "If only they weren't such an annoyance," she muttered, although she couldn't supress the rush of joy she felt when she imagined Arden returning Alda to her. "You can't evade me forever, Alda. Sooner or later, we'll bring you back home, I promise."

* * *

 

"Wow, look at the sun!" Arden swaggered along, swinging their arms wildly. It wasn't often the Octoling was permitted such freedom as this, but it also wasn't often they abided by the rules, so they had seen the sun many times before. _Can't say the same for poor Alda, though,_ they thought to themselves. _No wonder she ran away. I mean, locked up like that amongst people who despised her, I fancy I'd up and leave, too._

Pushing those thoughts out of their mind, they continued on. Pity was a useless emotion that Arden never allowed themselves to feel, and it would certainly never do them any good - especially not in this situation.

Sliding through the crack in the wall, Arden stepped out into the alley. A cold breeze made them shiver, and they berated themselves for not bringing some warmer form of clothing. Those thoughts were dashed from Arden's mind, though, as they took another step forwards and caught sight of an interesting object lying on the ground in front of them. It was certainly a rather old object; brittle pages fluttered in the wind, the ink was faded and the words could barely be made out. Despite that, Arden picked it up. "Well, well, well. Dear me, Alda, it's almost as if ya  _want_ to be found." They brushed a few bits of dirt off the front page and read the headline with a slight smirk. "Octoling Sightin' in Inkopolis, eh? How very interestin'. Ya beloved mother will be delighted to hear of this, ya silly little girl." Arden folded up the newspaper, tucked it into their belt and laughed softly.

They didn't bother doing any more investigation. This was evidence enough; Alda was consorting with Inklings - fraternizing with the enemy. She wouldn't be coming back home, and it was useless for Arden to try and force her to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are u guys ready for the eventual shitstorm??? Wait u don't care??? Oh ok


	17. Berries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> U know the B) emoji right??? Everyone loves the B) emoji
> 
> Except maybe Alda
> 
> (Cue the Great Emoji Ban of 2k16)
> 
> Which is basically this chapter
> 
> Angst and No More Emojis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are u all ready for No More Negative Notes?? Im not

Sylvette looked down at the newspaper in her hands, then back up at Arden. "Wh... what is this?"

"That's Alda, sir."

"You mean to tell me that this," she pointed to the blurry image on the cover, "is my daughter?!"

"Indeed it is," said Arden, and they sat back in the chair cockily, their hands behind their head.

"I don't _believe_ it," she gasped.

"Look," Arden said gleefully, "ya can tell it's her. There's no mistakin' that angry expression, even when there's only five pixels to depict it!"

Sylvette studied the photo. "You're right," she said dully.

"Aren't ya overjoyed? Aren't ya burstin' with happiness and overwhelmed with relief? Ya little brat of a daughter has been found!"

" _Arden_ ," Sylvette said warningly, "don't call her a brat."

"What, why?" Arden feigned hurt. "Isn't that ya pet name for her?"

Sylvette's voice rose. "Once again, you are testing my patience. If you don't have something useful to say, then get out."

"Fine," they said sulkily. "'Thank you for the paper, Arden. Thank you for sneaking into Inkopolis and putting your life in danger for me and my bratty daughter, _Arden_ -' "

"This is your _warning_ ," she hissed. "One more spiteful word and you can consider yourself dead and gone."

"Well, _I_ consider myself in need of thanks."

"You just enjoy pushing me to my limit, don't you? Fine _. Thank you,_ Arden, for retrieving this paper." _And doing virtually nothing else,_ she added silently. "Now, if you would be so kind, I wish to be left alone with my thoughts."

"Wow. That was possibly the least grateful thanks I've ever heard in my life, but I'll take it." They got up from the chair. "Have fun." And with that, Arden left.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind them, Sylvette refocused her attention on the newspaper the Octoling had brought to her. Of course, she was foolish to think that they'd have found Alda already, but at least this was one more clue that would lead to her capture. To her disappointment, the article was rather vague, but there was one rather intriguing sentence that caught her attention.

' _Our witness - who has refused to give his name - states that he will do all he can to find the Octoling and bring it to justice.'_

'Bring it to justice' - that could only mean one thing. Whoever this 'witness' was intended to hunt down and kill Alda - perhaps he already had. Maybe, as Sylvette was thinking these very thoughts, Alda was beyond saving. She stared at the front of the paper. Who knew how old this article was? Who even knew wether or not it was a reliable source of information?

But, be it reliable or not, it was now the only lead she had. And she'd be damned if she wasn't going to follow it.

 

* * *

 

Arden stomped down the stairs, a mutinous look on their face. How impertinent and ungrateful did the Commander have to be? Well, they'd show _her_. Hopping over a few familiar cracks in the floor, they admired how the quality of life dropped as they left the soldier's sector. Metal changed to wood, cracks and stains increased in number and it got louder; the rowdier Octarians less held back like they were in the barracks.

When Arden reached the market (or what passed for a market), they grinned. Here, merchants reigned, food was sold and you'd find the odd Octarian being trained for the military. They considered it quite a charming little place. That was, it wasn't the Squats.

The Squats were exactly what they sounded like - squatter settlements (as Sylvette liked to call them - although Arden found it pretentious and overly formal) deep underground. Life was rather shitty down there, as the Octoling could recall. They were cramped, dark, suffocating and lacking in simple necessities, like nourishment and healthcare. Not that anyone bothered to send anything down to the poor sods living there.

Arden had heard that that was where Alda had spent most of her childhood - after her father left, people above the Squats shunned her - so that shitty little hole was where she went. God knows what she got up to when she was down there. No good, probably. Arden liked that.

They looked around the market. Their mouth began to water; the food provided in the barracks was bland, tasteless soldier rations, and they didn't care much for it. However, the stuff sold here, by comparison, was _excellent_. Their fingers began to itch to grab something, but they willed themselves to hold back, taking a few steps into the crowd.

The place was dimly lit by a few naked bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Occasionaly, one would flicker, and it would recieve several worried looks from the guards - but Arden had never seen them actually turn off. It was like they were being taunted, the threat of darkness looming, but never quite affecting them. They were living on an edge, and, Arden though, it made an otherwise boring life rather interesting. They eyed the guards who, in turn, were eyeing the bulbs. None had flickered so far, and Arden had long stopped caring. As long as the guards kept those batons well away from the Octoling, they'd continue not caring.

Besides, the only people that were hit with those were ones who'd been caught committing crimes - and Arden wasn't planning on being caught.

Slipping easily through a gap in the crowd, they looked around, analyzing the best possible sources of free food. Out of the corner of their eye, they spotted a confused young Octoling wandering around, an Octoball under one arm and a fat paper bag of berries clutched in their pudgy hand. _Bingo_. Arden marched right up to them and knelt down until the two of them were eye-level with each other. "You lost?"

The small child nodded, looking up at Arden with wide eyes.

"What's ya name, kid?" When Arden got no reply, they continued: "not one to talk, eh? Yeah, I don't blame ya." Pointing to the Octoball, they said: "s'that your pet?"

The child nodded again.

"What, you're not sending it off to fight in the military, like me?"

Shaking their head frantically, the young Octoling clutched onto the Octoball more tightly.

"S'alright. The army's not for everyone. So, uh, ya parents 'round here, kid?"

They shook their head.

"Great," said Arden with a grin, "because it's going to make this so much easier." And they snatched the bag of berries off the child and straightened up. "See ya around, kid."

 

* * *

 

 

Alda's phone buzzed, and she looked down.

Coral: sup nerd (2:10)

"Why are you texting me? I'm literally across the room from you."

Coral: B) (2:10)

Alda: Why  (2:11)

Coral: im bored (2:11)

Alda: Go back to your book. (2:11)

Coral: but ive read it before (2:12)

Alda: Read it again. (2:12)

Coral: hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (2:12)

Alda: Why do you always do this (2:13)

Coral: because im bored (2:13)

Alda: Read your BOOK (2:14)

Coral: B)  B)  (2:14)

Alda: Sometimes I wonder why I'm still here (2:14)

Coral: because u love me B) ;)   (2:14)

Alda: In your dreams  (2:15)

Coral: ;)  (2:15)

Alda: Stop sending that stupid winky face (2:15)

Coral: no   (2:15)

Coral: B)

Alda: Also stop sending the sunglasses emoji  (2:16)

Coral: B) B) B) B)  (2:16)

Alda: I will block you  (2:16)

Alda: How do you block someone  (2:16)

Across the room, Coral burst into giggles, and the book in her lap fell to the floor.

Alda: STOP LAUGHING AT ME  (2:16)

Coral: no  (2:16)

Alda: >:(  (2:17)

Coral: B(  (2:17)

Alda: Ok I've reached my limit  (2:17)

Alda: I'm putting a ban on emojis  (2:18)

Coral: u cant do that  (2:18)

Alda: Yes I can I'm doing it right now  (2:18)

Coral: try and stop me  (2:18)

Coral: ill use all the emojis i want  (2:18)

Coral: >B)  (2:18)

Alda: K that's it  (2:19)

Dropping her phone onto the sofa, Alda reached over and neatly plucked Coral's phone from her hands. The Inkling let out a surprised yelp and Alda, sniggering, sprinted from the room.

"Hey!"  Coral leaped off the sofa to give chase, following the Octoling making a beeline for the stairs. "Give me back my phone, you shit!"

"No more emojis," yelled Alda.

"What do you have against emojis?"

Taking the stairs two at a time, Alda replied: "everything."

Coral was outraged. "Emojis are an art form," she yelled indignantly. She reached the top of the stairs and, seeing that Alda was at the end of the landing, grinned triumphantly. Marching towards her phone's captor with her hand outstretched, she said: "ha! You're cornered! Now you have to give me back my phone so I can spam you with emojis as my petty revenge!"

Alda, an evil glint in her eye, raised the hand holding the phone high in the air. "Come get it then."

The Inkling looked up at the phone Alda was holding above her head. "I'm not jumping."

Alda's mean facade shattered and she let out a snicker as Coral glared defiantly at her. With a jolt, Coral realised how close the two of them were. Their faces were merely inches apart, and her heart suddenly jumped to her throat - what was happening? Why - why weren't either of them turning away? Her face went red and she stopped breathing for a moment. Wha -

 _Ring ring_.

With a start, Alda dropped the phone on Coral's head.

_Ring ring._

The Inkling fumbled with it, but managed to catch it before it hit the ground. She hastily pressed the answer button before it could ring again and turned away from Alda, trying to hide her red cheeks. Putting the phone to her ear, she mumbled (somewhat coherently) "h-hello?"

"Coral?" Ika's timid voice was instantly recognizable.

"Oh, hey, Small One. W-what's up?"

"Um, are you... okay? Y-you seem a bit off..."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I... I didn't interrupt anything, d-did I?"

"No," Coral said hurriedly. "No, you didn't. Definitely." _Smooth_ , she internally chided herself.

"W-well, okay..."

"So, what're you calling for?"

"Well, I was wondering... did y-you hear about the Splatfest coming up?"

"What, they've announced another one already?"

"Y-yeah... and since you m-missed the last one, I..."

"Oh no," Coral groaned. "I was an idiot and promised I'd go to the next one, didn't I?"

"I- I don't want to force you, or a-anything! It's just that... F-Finn's coming, and so I hoped... I mean, I d-don't want you two to stop being fr-friends, so..."

"So you think I should go to the Splatfest to try and mend my friendship with Finn?"

"You don't have to!"

"No,you're right." Sighing, Coral admitted: "we haven't talked in a while, so I'm pretty sure he doesn't consider me a friend anymore. And after the whole business with..." she trailed off, gesturing in midair and hoping that Ika would latch onto her train of thought.

Thankfully, she did. "Did Alda t-tell you any more a-about Caspian?"

"No. I... haven't asked any more. Seems like a wound that she wouldn't like opened, y'know?"

"Yeah..." there was a short silence, until Ika said, "I wish Alda could come see Splatfest w-with us... Well, I'll see you there, right? It's this weekend, so don't forget!"

"I... yeah, I'll be there."

"Great! I'm looking forward to it!"

When she heard the _click_ signalling the end of the call, Coral turned back around to face Alda - only to find her gone. While the Inkling had been distracted by the phonecall, Alda had seemingly slipped away, leaving Coral standing alone in the hallway. She wondered how much the Octoling had heard.

She sighed. Oh, who was she kidding? Alda had heard all of it, hadn't she - it's not as if Coral had been quiet and discreet about what she was discussing with Ika. No wonder she'd fucked off; Coral was planning on going to some dumb festival to make friends with someone who could - and was probably planning to - kill them both. How could Ika have thought that her and Finn could ever repair their friendship? And why would Coral ever want to? Internally berating herself for agreeing to go to Splatfest, Coral went into her room and shut the door behind her, just as Alda had likely done.

How could so many things happen in just a few days that could throw the little world they'd made together so off kilter? First Finn, then Caspian, now this Splatfest and that-thing-that-almost-happened-before-the-phone-rang.

Coral had to admit that it wasn't exactly the most stable of worlds, but it was real and it existed and it was _hers_ , and she wasn't ready to let go of it just yet.

She flopped onto the bed, put her headphones on and turned up the volume of her music as loud as it would go in an attempt to drown out her thoughts. It didn't work. Despite the blaring tunes, she still found herself thinking of Alda.

At one point, she was sure she heard her knocking at the door, but she ignored it and it went away.

This was better - _familiar_ , even. Nothing existed except the pounding of music in her ears and the crushing weight of loneliness - right where it should be. This was how it always was, and how it always would be.

Eventually, she fell asleep like that, one hand over her eyes, the other over her heart, _thud thud thud_ ding in time with the music. Her sleep was restless and fitful, full of cruel Inkling boys with green tentacles and broken Octoling girls with red tentacles, ink and blood swirling and mixing together until one could not be discerned from the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make this chapter longer??? (I tried ok appreciate my effort)


	18. Arguments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IM NOT DEAD YET

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pleas appreciate my effort

When Coral woke up the next morning, all the thoughts she'd pushed away the previous night came crashing down on her with the weight of several Krakens.

 _Me and Alda almost kissed._ She dropped her headphones off the side of the bed and put a pillow over her face. _And now said Octoling wants to kill me because I'm off to Splatfest to be friends with Finn - who wants to kill_ her.

Breakfast was not looking to be a fun ordeal.

 _Well, I guess there's a simple solution to that,_ thought Coral. _Don't have breakfast._ She was well aware of the fact that shutting herself in her room out of both shame and embarrassment was a rather childish act, but the thought of seeing Alda made butterflies flutter around in her stomach. Butterflies with razor-sharp wings.

How was she supposed to talk to Alda now? What was she supposed to say? 'Morning, Alda, I know that we almost kissed and that I'm friends with the person that wants to kill you, but I was thinking of having bran flakes for breakfast, how about you?'

Why was she so nervous, anyway? She didn't even like Alda like that! Putting a hand over her heart, she felt its beating speed up as she thought more about it. Never before had she been like that with someone - her life seemed simply to be lacking in the intimacy and closeness that lovers shared. Not that she'd ever been jealous of those people, just that she'd never imagined herself in their place.

And what about her and Alda's friendship? Would it have been ruined by this almost-kiss, this probably-a-crush that Coral may or may not have? She bit back the urge to scream into her pillow. She couldn't have a crush on Alda. No. Not a chance.

Besides, Alda was an Octoling (one who shouldn't even be here) and Coral was an Inkling. She wasn't having this Romeo-and-Juliet crap happen - every Inkling who paid attention in Human History class knew that a Romeo-and-Juliet situation was not a nice situation to be in. It would Not Work and, she decided, it would Not Happen. Alda didn't like Coral, Coral didn't like Alda, The End. Full stop. Period.

A knock at the door pulled the miserable Inkling from her thoughts and she considered ignoring it, but, after a moment's hesitation, stumbled out of bed and yanked it open. Her heart did an odd little jig when her eyes met Alda's, and her razor-winged butterflies cut up her insides.

"Do you actually want breakfast, or are you just going to sit around in bed all day? It's almost midday."

"Whoops," mumbled Coral.

Alda's eyes flicked over Coral's rumpled clothing, and she asked: "did you sleep in that?"

"Huh?" She looked down, and realised that she was still in the clothes she'd worn yesterday. "Oh. Whoops," she repeated.

"Is that all you've got to say for yourself?" Alda snarled, and Coral stepped back, her hand clutching the door handle.

"Sorry."

"You're sorry? Oh, that makes it so much fucking better, doesn't it?"

Coral, for once, didn't have anything to say.

"You think I didn't hear your little conversation with Ika?" Her voice rose. "You're actually going to be all friendly friends with _FINN_?! Finn wants my fucking tentacles served up on a _platter_ , and you're off to frolic in pretty fucking fields with him?! Do you even care how I feel? You stubborn, thoughtless, inconsiderate _bastard_! Well, if you want to be friends with that piece of shit, go ahead. I wouldn't expect any more of you Inkling dickheads."

Coral lowered her head, her fringe hiding the tears welling up in her eyes. Sensing that Alda had finished her yelling, she began to push the door closed, regretting opening it in the first place.

The Octoling put a hand out to stop her. "What, you think I'm _finished_?! Don't just close the fucking door in my face when I'm talking to you! Why are you so-"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Coral's last defence shattered and she let the tears in her eyes stream down her face. Forcing the door shut (with difficulty) she pressed her back up against it. She then slid down to the floor, pulled her knees up to her chest and allowed the silent sobs to wrack her body.

Was this what having people close to you was like? If so, Coral didn't want any of it.

There was suddenly a loud _THUD_ \- Alda had probably punched something. Coral didn't care.

She wished that her life would go back to normal. The drama that seemed to accompany keeping an Octoling friend was becoming a little too much, and Coral found herself wishing that things would go back to when it was just her and Alda. No Ika, no Finn, no dumb Splatfest and no crush-that-Coral-was-sure-didn't-exist.

And to add to her misery, breakfast was now most definitely not an option. It was a shame; she had been looking forward to it - it seemed that getting your heart ripped out and stomped on really makes you hungry. Who knew?

* * *

"Do you have nothing better to do with your time than annoy me?" Arden looked down at the child. "Look, kid, I ate your berries. They're gone, see." They showed the younger Octoling their empty hands.

The Octoling child reached out and grasped one of Arden's hands, and Arden pulled it away. "I'm not your parent. Clear off." The taller Octoling turned around and started walking away, out of the market place. They thought that they'd gotten the child to leave them alone, but a tug on their hand alerted them to the fact that the little brat still had yet to leave. " _Kid_. What is it gonna take for me to get you to fuck off?"

When the child didn't move, Arden knelt down in front of them. "You know how many people I've seen in your position? Homeless, friendless, penniless. You think you're the only one with nothing? You ain't." They pulled out their switchblade. "You're really startin' to get on my nerves, kid. If you don't get the fuck off my back, I'm gonna cut off your tentacles with this knife."

Pointing the blade at the Octoling, they waited for the child to cry, or scream, or run away. To Arden's surprise, they didn't move, keeping their hand on Arden's and looking at them with those wide eyes. "Y'know, this is usually the part where people run away, screaming. Not that I'm encouraging you to scream," Arden added hastily, "that would get me in trouble. But, uh, aren't you scared? I'm pointing a knife at you."

Instead, the child did something Arden hadn't been counting on - or expecting. They _smiled_.

"Kid," the older Octoling said, "I've got a _knife_ pointed at your _face_. Why the fuck are you smiling?"

The child put a hand over the knife and Arden, defeated, lowered it. "You're a right weirdo, you know that?" They put the switchblade back in their pocket and sighed, regretting ever speaking to the child. "Are you gonna leave me alone?"

The little Octoling shook their head.

"Didn't think so. So, ya got a name?" When the child once more shook their head, Arden grinned. "Right, well I'll give you one, then. How's about 'Berry'? 'Cuz you're so small and round. And also because I stole berries from you that one time," they added as an afterthought, "but that's not the point. The point is, we're friends now, aren't we, Berry?"

Berry nodded their head eagerly.

"Excellent. So, tell me, you any good at stealin' stuff?"

As it turned out, Berry was very good at stealin' stuff. So good, in fact, that Arden's pockets were soon bulging with stolen food. "Wow. No wonder you've survived so long on your own," they said, shoving a piece of bread into their mouth.

Berry smiled proudly and fed a few sweets to the Octoball under their arm. Arden, watching skeptically, said: "why'd you carry that thing round with you?"

Hugging it to their chest, Berry said nothing. They wiped some crumbs onto their worn shorts, then continued to feed the Octoball, pointedly ignoring Arden's question.

"I think I get it. You're lonely, and that lil Octoball is the only thing keeping you company, right?" Their grin widened as Berry continued to ignore them. "Ha! You're an idiot. I don't understand people who insist upon having company, having 'friends'. It's pathetic. Have you seen yourself?" Arden paused to take another bite of the bread, then continued: "when will people realise that the only people we need are ourselves?" They finished the bread, dusted the crumbs off, then turned to Berry. "You got a place to stay?"

The child averted their eyes.

Arden groaned. "I had a feeling. You don't have a place to stay, do ya?" They considered the Octoling for a moment, before waving a hand and saying, "well, that's not my problem. You've been livin' alone for a while now, I take it?"

Berry nodded.

"So what makes _now_ any different?" There was a pause, and then: "all your life?"

Berry nodded again.

"That sucks, kid. Tell ya what," said Arden, an idea half-forming in their mind, "ya good at stealin' stuff, right? How's about you stay with me for a bit, and pay ya keep by stealin' me stuff? I don't have to keep going into the market, then. It's getting a bit of a drag. There's better crimes to commit, ya know?"

A huge smile suddenly split Berry's face, and they seized Arden's hand happily.

"Y'know, the Commander's gonna have my tentacles," the older Octoling commented. "She's gonna roast me over a spit. You keep quiet, or she'll murder you. Hell, if you get me in bother, _I'll_ murder you. Got it?"

Berry nodded. Either they didn't understand the implications of living in the barracks, or they just didn't care. Jeez, they must be pretty desperate for a home.

"Oh, and one more thing. Don't expect anything of me, alright? I'm not gonna pander to you. I'm not ya parent."

Berry didn't seem to care about that, either.

"You can get around unseen, right? 'Course ya can. You keep yourself hidden - I don't want to have to be saving ya hide constantly." Arden ignored Berry's tiny hand curled around their own and continued rattling off house rules. "Don't cry. Ever. Don't snore. Don't steal the cakes that Octarian over there makes, they're gross. The bread from the stall next to him's okay. Don't get anything that one sells, they're laced with somethin'. Dunno what, but I don't feel inclined to find out. Lastly, don't get yourself killed. I may have mentioned that before, but it's important. Right, ya got all that?"

Once more, Berry nodded eagerly and tightened their hand around Arden's. Arden was starting to wonder if nodding was all this child could do. "Kid, are ya ever gonna speak?" When Berry remained silent, Arden decided to take that as a 'no'. "Right. Guess we cleared that up," they muttered under their breath. "Oh, one more thing. You're okay with sleepin' on the floor, right? There's only one bed and I ain't sleepin' with you."

Arden didn't really care wether or not Berry was okay with sleeping on the floor. As far as they were concerned, Berry could sleep on a bed of spikes and they wouldn't give a rat's arse.

"You're lucky I have a room to myself. Sylvette kicked me out of the shared dorm 'cuz I kept stealin' stuff off my roommates." Arden chuckled at the memory of Sylvette flying into a rage over the _third missing pair_ of goggles _that week_. They smiled even more as they recalled how much those goggles had sold for down in the market. "So, shall we go? It's Lights Out soon and I think neither of us want to be out and about for that."

Lights Out was when the flickery bulbs were turned off for about 10 hours as everyone slept. It was so that the energy provided by the few zapfish in the Octarians' possession could be saved, and it also acted as a curfew.

Of course, you always got the few dickheads who took advantage of the cover of darkness to run amock. It was ridiculous - Arden would never stoop to their level. Who on earth was going to take the weenie way out and steal things during the dark hours? Where was the fun in that?

There were no guards stationed during Lights Out, so there would be no danger - which, Arden thought, made being a criminal all the more fun. The thrilling chases through tunnels and crowds as guards pursued you on those lil' mobiles, the yells of Octarians on the odd chance you got caught, and the satisfaction of not being caught despite the odds - that was what made it so enjoyable for Arden. And to think some people wimped out of that and only plundered during Lights Out? Unforgivable.

And so, with the curfew in mind, Arden and Berry hurried back to the barracks.

And that was how Arden made a friend. Looking back, they realised that taking Berry's hand that day had probably been a mistake - the amount of trouble they were about to cause for the older Octoling probably wasn't worth it. But Arden also realised that, of course, if they could go back and do it all again, they wouldn't change a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still on suicide watch (sadly) but I've managed to sneakily upload this chapter. It's not that great, and Coral needs to stop angsting, but ya know.
> 
> I kinda realised that Berry is basically Frisk halfway through writing this chapter. Fuck.


	19. Realizations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slow updates ;-;

When Arden awoke, it was with a start, roused by what felt like a sharp jab in the shoulder. They immediately sat bolt upright, spitting obscenities out incoherently. A figure was stood at the side of the bed - a child. They had an Octoball under one arm and a misshapen object in the other hand, which they were shoving in Arden's face.

_Berry_.

"Oh my fuck," muttered Arden, kicking the threadbare blankets off their legs and pulling the most disgruntled face they could muster. Not even Sylvette got them up this early - who did this brat think they were?

The flickery bulb in their room was on - Lights Out was over. Still, Arden's point remained. It was too damn early.

"Kid," they groaned, "what do you want?"

Berry waved the misshapen object around impatiently.

"S'it food? If it's not, I don't care." At Arden's statement, Berry prodded them in the cheek with it, and the older Octoling snatched it up with an "alright, alright, fine, I'm - hold on." Arden lifted the object closer to their eyes. "Is this... chocolate?"

Berry nodded, a beam splitting their face.

"I don't believe this," Arden muttered as they turned the chunk of chocolate over in their hands. "Actual _chocolate_. Where'd you get _actual_ chocolate from?" When, of course, Berry didn't answer, Arden broke off a piece of the chocolate with a satisfying snap, and gave it to the child, watching as they munched on it happily. "Doesn't seem to be poisoned, either."

Since Berry remained unharmed by the sweet, Arden broke off a piece for themselves and stuffed it in their mouth, chewing greedily. Arden and Berry shared a chocolate-filled grin before Arden wrapped the rest of the treat up in paper and put it away. Something like chocolate had, after all, to be savoured.

* * *

_Tick. Tock_.

The clock ticked, and in the otherwise silence its ticks sounded abnormally loud.

_Tick. Tock._

Too loud. Coral put her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut and for a moment it was like the clock didn't exist. It was like _she_ didn't exist. She liked it like that; for a moment everything stopped, everything ceased to be real. But as soon as she opened her eyes and lifted her hands off her ears, the _tick tock_ started up again and everthing became real once more.

Why did Coral have to go to the Splatfest? It was hardly as if she wanted to. Maybe if she just didn't turn up... but if she did that, she didn't think she could stand to see the crestfallen look on Ika's face, or the angry expression on Finn's. They were Coral's friends, she had to...

'Had to what, exactly?' Her mother would say. 'You don't owe them anything for their friendship.'

While Coral realised that this was probably true, she felt that it didn't really apply to her situation, what with her putting so little effort into her friendships. _I mean, it's about damn time I start appreciating my friends._

On the other hand, she'd be leaving Alda all alone in the house. And since it was rather obvious that Alda wasn't feeling herself, Coral wanted to make things up to her, and not leave her sitting in a cold house with no company but her own thoughts - which Coral knew from experience was not pleasant.

Suddenly, Alda's words from earlier came back to her. ' _You stubborn, thoughtless, inconsiderate bastard!'_

Coral felt the tears pricking at her eyes again, but she pushed them down this time, despite the way the words bounced around her head, aggravating her razor-winged butterflies. 

_I have to get out._

Sliding off the bed, she pulled on a random flannel over her shirt. It was a little early to be leaving for Splatfest, but she couldn't stand sitting around with her thoughts anymore. Screw Alda and what she thought - Finn wasn't a monster and, even if he was, Coral was going to be friends with him anyway.

It took the Inkling a little less than a few minutes to fill a small bag with her phone, wallet, headphones and other necessities. Soon, she found herself standing at the front door, one hand on the handle. She hesitated. Then, with a sigh, she let her hand drop off the handle and turned around. Poking her head into the livingroom, she opened her mouth to say something to the Octoling sitting inside, then stopped.

Alda was sat on the sofa, knees drawn up to her chest. She was staring at the TV, seemingly lost in her thoughts. From the look on her face, Coral could guess that they weren't very nice thoughts to be lost in.

"Um," started Coral, intending to let Alda know that she'd be setting off now, or maybe that the Octoling was staring at a blank screen. Whatever she was planning on saying got caught in her throat, though, and she ended up dithering uselessly in the doorway.

Alda looked up and, when she saw Coral, her features hardened. "What?" She snapped.

"Um," Coral repeated. "I'm going to go now. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Why would I need you?" Alda's tone was blunt, but with the sharp edge that anger gave it.

Coral blanched; it felt like she'd just been slapped in the face. "Oh." For once, she couldn't think of something to say.

"Well, aren't you gonna go? Go meet up with that murderer friend of yours?"

Now Coral could think of something to say. "At least he's better company than you," she retorted, and turned her back on the room and Alda.

There was no hesitation this time when she flung open the door, and definitely none when she slammed it shut. As soon as she did, though, she began to regret her words. Still, she turned and started walking towards the plaza, where the festival was held. But with every step she took, the regret and uncertainty grew and grew, until Coral couldn't stand it anymore and, after a mere twenty minutes of walking, flopped down onto a bench.

_I'm such an idiot._

The Inkling snorted to herself at the inadequacy of her words. 'I'm such an idiot' didn't seem to cut it.

_I am, quite possibily, the stupidest person on this entire fucking planet._

That, Coral had to admit, sounded a little closer to the truth.

She shivered and pulled her flannel tighter around herself, berating herself for not bringing a coat - although, she supposed, there were bigger things she should be berating herself for. She pulled her phone out of her bag, turned it on, checked it, then put it away, disappointed. There were no new messages, missed calls or voicemails from Alda. Not that Coral had been expecting any, it was just that she'd hoped that Alda missed her as much as she missed Alda - though that was probably a more stupid thought than 'I'm such an idiot'. Of course Alda didn't miss Coral. Not one smidgen. Coral, on the other hand...

She missed her. She missed her a lot. "Fuck," she whispered, then promptly burst into tears.

She didn't want to go to this Splatfest, she didn't want to make friends with Finn and she most definitely didn't want to be sat on a bench alone at night bawling her eyes out - and yet here she was. It dawned on Coral then that there was only one possible reason she could be so distraught and lonely without Alda, a reason she'd been trying to deny to herself for a while now. "Fuck," she whispered again, wiping her tear-stained cheeks.

_I... I have a crush on Alda._

Once again, the inadequacy of her words hit her like a ton of bricks and she let out a half-laugh, half-sob.

"Stupid," she muttered. _I'm so stupid._ She wiped the last of the tears from her eyes and stood up. She wasn't going to the Splatfest, she wasn't going to make friends with Finn, and she most definitely wasn't going to sit on a bench alone at night and bawl her eyes out (however inviting that last one may sound). Turning on her heel, she began walking in the direction she'd came. She was going to make things right.

* * *

The click of the front door as it opened dragged Alda kicking and screaming her thoughts and she sat bolt upright. It couldn't be...

"Alda?" A certain Inkling took a few steps into the room. "I... uh..."

It was more than she'd dared hope, and yet...

"What?" She snarled. "Did you forget something?"

_Yeah, my heart_ , thought Coral _. I left it with you_. She didn't say that aloud. Instead, she said, "yeah, I think I left behind my ability to see reason. Dunno where it went." She went over and sat next to Alda on the sofa. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I was being an idiot."

Alda snorted. "Oh, now she realizes." But it was clear that her features had softened slightly. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, I guess. Though you deserved it."

Coral laughed. "Probably."

"What did you come back for?"

_Because I missed you_. "Because it was cold."

"You're an idiot."

The Inkling grinned. "Yeah."

* * *

"She's not coming, is she?"

Ika checked her phone for what seemed like the millionth time that evening. "Maybe she's just late..."

Finn snorted. "Yeah, right." He tapped his foot impatiently, also for what seemed like the millionth time that evening. Silence fell again for a few minutes, until Finn eventually pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against and turned away from Ika. "Face it, she's not bothering." He began to walk away, his hands shoved in his pockets and ignoring his friend's protests.

His eyes locked on a certain sewer grate, he pulled his Blaster out of his backpack, assembled it, then dropped his backpack on the floor and watched as Ika quickly picked it up and slung it on her back. "Finn, maybe we should w-wait a bit longer..."

"I'm done waiting," he snapped and, before Ika could say anything else, he hopped down the grate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOP, THERE IT IS.
> 
> Coral, ya need to stop neglecting your friends, my guy


	20. Agents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LATE CHAPTER IS LATE. BAD CHAPTER IS BAD. SHORT CHAPTER IS SHORT.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayy 20 chapters!

Arden was bored. Incredibly bored. It just so happened to be that when _they_ were on duty, there was no sign of Agent 3 whatsoever. That, in many people's opinion, would be a relief, but Arden thought that no Inkling to beat up = no fun.

They tapped their Octoshot restlessly against their knee as they watched their two teammates swim around idly in the ink. This, the Octoling thought, was the worst  form of torture that Sylvette could possibly inflict on them. She'd insisted that Arden had way too much time on their hands and that 'perhaps some guard duty would be beneficial'. _Beneficial, my ass,_ thought Arden. This mission was the _last_ thing they wanted to do.

That was probably due to the fact that they'd had to leave Berry behind in the dorms, and could only hope that the child had enough common sense to keep themselves hidden. Otherwise, who knew what trouble Arden would get into - no-one but soldiers were permitted into the barracks. Berry was in there simply because Arden was a lazy butt and couldn't be bothered to get their own food. Which, the Octoling thought, was a good enough reason.

Suddenly, out of the corner of their eye, they caught sight of green ink being flung around on one of the platforms. They grinned. _Look who's here._ Finally, someone to exert their frustrations on.

The Agent seemed to be in an especially bad mood tonight, easily carving his way through the Octarian defences. Arden watched in amusement as Octarian after Octarian fell - every soldier, every trooper that dared cross the path of the great and terrible Agent 3...

Arden let out a derisive laugh. Everyone thought that Agent 3 was a terrifying killing machine, even though, simply put, he was an annoying prick with anger issues. An annoying prick who was probably about to get his ass kicked.

Besides, it wasn't as if he could actually kill anyone; all soldiers were authorized to use the respawn pad back in the barracks - although, Arden supposed, that didn't extend to non-military Octarians. Say, if Berry were to get splatted here then, since they weren't able to use the pad, it would be bye-bye Berry. Arden took a moment to be thankful that Berry wasn't here.

What was that thing kids sometimes said? 'Don't jinx it'? Yeah.

"For fuck's sake."

That was all that was to be said, really.

Arden dropped their weapon, breaking ranks and sprinting towards a crate at the far side of the platform. Berry poked their head around the side of it, waving at Arden in a jovial manner, as if absolutely nothing was wrong at all - _does this child wish for death?_

Arden clamped a hand over Berry's mouth (just in case, y'know?) and flattened themselves against the crate, out of sight.

"Ya know," hissed Arden, "getting in trouble is something you're supposed to avoid. Ya seem to have this, uh, how shall I put it - death wish? Like, it's generally more fun when ya don't die, ya get me? I dunno what things ya were expectin' by coming here, but I don't think death was one of -" they were rudely interrupted by Berry tugging on their arm. "What?"

The child pointed, and Arden carefully peered around the side of the crate. Lo and fucking behold, Agent 3 had shown his pissy ass and was busy taking out Arden's two teammates. The Octoling snorted at how inept they were.

The next time they dared to take a glance around the crate, Agent 3 had picked up Arden's discarded Octoshot and was inspecting it bemusedly. _Damn. He knows we're here._

After all, it didn't take a genius to know that one more weapon must mean one more Octoling - and Arden could clearly tell that this Agent was not a genius.

As if on cue, the Inkling hefted his strange weapon and aimed it directly at the crate Arden and Berry were hiding behind. "Great," Arden muttered under their breath just as Agent 3 opened fire.

_BOOM!_

The crate exploded, green ink covering everything in sight, the loudness and closeness of the shot sending a chill down Arden's spine. In their arms, Berry's back went ramrod straight and they let out a tiny whimper of fear. The ink that hit Arden's exposed skin burned, but they kept quiet, turning slowly to look up at the offending Inkling. Their eyes met the barrel of a gun, and they couldn't help but smile at how eager this Inkling was for Octarian death.

How was Arden going to get out of this one? Simple. Their natural, stunning charisma.

"Sup," they said.

The Agent was dumbfounded. Of a the things that they expected the Octoling to say, Arden could guess that 'sup' wasn't one of them.

Arden continued, "it's a lovely day out, isn't?" They pointed to the screens on the ceiling, which were showcasing a beautiful sunny day.

Either the Inkling didn't understand sarcasm, or he just wasn't in the mood to fuck around, as he slammed his finger on the trigger. Arden was extremely delighted to hear the click that accompanied being out of ink.

"You're out of ink." A rather obvious statement, but Arden just couldn't belive their luck. "So, before ya recharge," said Arden, catching the Agent eyeing the puddle next to him, "how about ya consider, uh, not shooting me n' my lil friend here?"

The Inkling's eyes alighted upon Berry for what was probably the first time, and Arden fought back a laugh as they watched the expression on Agent 3's face morph from irritance to shock.

"Yes, that's a child," confirmed Arden. "Ya surprised?"

"What," said the Agent with some difficulty, "is a child doing on the battlefield?"

Arden shrugged. "Maybe they got curious. Kids will be kids, ya know?"

The Inkling seemed to be unable to think of something in reply.

"Cat got ya tongue?" The Octoling removed their hand from Berry's mouth and shifted to a more comfortable position. "Ah, I see," said Arden, ignoring Berry's trembling. "Ya too caught up in killin' us to realise that we may actually be people - with children n' feelings n' all that shit. Man," the Octoling grinned, "you Inklings have the thickest skulls I've ever seen, and ya don't even have _bones_."

The Inkling's angry expression only served to amuse Arden even more. "So what now?" they asked. "Ya gonna kill us both, that it?"

Agent 3 raised his weapon again, hesitated, then lowered it in a defeated manner. He turned away and, looking back over his shoulder, spat: "if I ever see you again, you're dead."

All Arden could think as they watched the Inkling's retreating back was: _finally. It's about damn time that kid gained some morals._

* * *

Mama and Papa were arguing again. Papa had been helping Alda with her reading and writing, but Mama said he should be training her to fight. Papa said 'no' in his very shouty voice, and now Mama was angry. Alda could only watch from the sidelines as Mama shouted and Papa shouted and- and-

"YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW WHY I EVER MARRIED YOU," yelled Mama.

"Syl, please," Papa protested.

"DON'T 'SYL' _ME_ , CASPIAN!"

Mama used Papa's proper name. Usually she only called him 'Cas' or sometimes 'Cassy' if she was in a good mood. She didn't seem to be in a very good mood today.

Alda tried to take a step forwards, to try and stop her parents from playing out the inevitable scene, but she found that her legs weren't obeying her, as if her feet were stuck to the ground. She struggled to free herself, but couldn't, crying out: _please! Don't go!_

Alda woke suddenly, plunged back into the present without warning. Her heart thudded in her chest, and the words 'don't go' begged to be spoken, to be yelled, to be screamed to the heavens.

_Don't go._

_Don't leave me here all alone._

_I can be a better daughter, I promise._

_I'll show you._

_I can fight, see, Mama?_

_I'll make you proud of me._

_So please, don't go._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I say 'this chapter is bad' in most notes, but UGH THIS CHAPTER IS BAD AND UNEDITED AHDBKSNSKSBVSJ


	21. Reconciliations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A RLLY ONE OFF SHORT FILLER ISH CHAPTER AND I SWEAR THE PLOT WILL GO QUICKER AFTER THIS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right are yall ready for some #positivity
> 
> *takes deep breath* my fic may be slighty more okay than I always portray it to be in the notes
> 
> That's all ur getting

_It's a beautiful day._

_And by beautiful day, I mean it's, like, minus-something degrees and there's these fuckface clouds everywhere. I mean, you'd think the colour blue didn't exist. So yes, a beautiful day._

_Please note my sarcasm._

It seemed to Coral that the weather really hated her. Whenever she left the house (which was a rare occurrence) it was always incredibly overcast - perfect weather for staying in. And what was she not doing? _Staying in_. Coral half-wished that it would rain so that she could get out of doing this stupid turf war.

Coral kinda liked the rain. Weird, considering she died whenever she came into contact with it - being an Inkling had its downsides.

But it was nice hearing it patter on the roof. It was pretty when it was lit up by streetlights and, once it had finished raining, it left behind a smell you couldn't really find anywhere else. Coral found it fascinating how something so dangerous could be so beautiful.

Except as she thought that, her mind switched to an entirely different station, with something (or someone) just as beautiful and just as dangerous.

The Inkling only barely snatched a glimpse of the screen before the match started - from what she could tell, she and her team were up against a Blaster, a Splat Roller, and Aerospray and an N-ZAP '89. Hopefully the other team hadn't seen how red her cheeks were.

Quickly diving into the ink her teammates were now spreading, Coral began to look for a place to snipe from. It wasn't long before she found a ledge that she hastily climbed onto. From this, she could oversee the middle of the stage, and the Inkling in it. For the only other person to reach the middle yet, it seemed, was the Blaster user from the other team. In a glorious stroke of luck, the Blaster had his back to Coral, and easy target for her Splatterscope - she had no trouble shooting him down.

Coral grinned; not even half a minute in and already she had her first kill. Suck it, Mr. Blaster.

She was about to load up another shot when a splash behind her alerted her to another prescence. The Inkling quickly turned - and found herself face to face with none other than Ika.

"Hello," Ika squeaked, then slammed her roller down on Coral's head.

It took Coral more than her four seconds of respawning to comprehend what had happened. Ika, her tentacles tied up behind her head and a huge delighted beam on her face, waved at Coral from across Arowana Mall. The Inkling being waved at gaped and took a step off the pad. Without so much as a second glance, she splatted the Aerospray that'd made it to her base, her eyes fixed on her friend.

She hadn't talked to Ika since she skipped out on the Splatfest last weekend. What was she going to say? Nothing reassuring, that was for sure.

She adjusted her charger, then made her way back to the ledge she'd been standing on before Ika had splatted her. Maybe Coral could just... avoid her.

The Inkling sent a charged shot at the Blaster, but it missed by a tentacle's breadth. Mr. Blaster turned, avoiding the new patch of ink and shooting an all too familiar angry look at Coral, the latter Inkling quickly ducking into the puddle at her feet.

_Why is_ he _here?!_

One friend she could avoid. One friend and one Inkling-who-wanted-Alda-dead might be a bit harder.

When she next emerged from the ink, Finn was gone. Relived, Coral hopped down from the ledge and headed further into enemy territory, watching out for either of her friends.

"H-hey! Coral!"

Coral whirled around and raised her charged weapon. So much for avoiding her friends. She was about to open fire when Ika held up a hand.

"Wait, h-hold on!" Ika hurried up to Coral, stepping carefully around patches of blue ink.

Coral lowered her charger. "Hey, Small One. Sorry I... I didn't come to Splatfest. Something came up and I, well..."

"It's okay! I d-don't mind. Although, y-you have to come to the next one now." Smiling, Ika adjusted her ponytail.

"Yeah. Feel free to splat me in revenge."

"Um, s-sure."

Coral once more emerged from the respawn pad, courtesy of Ika's Splat Roller. "I didn't _mean_ it," she grumbled.

With about a minute left of the turf war, Coral superjumped to one of her (incompetent) teammates on the other side of the mall, aiming to splat Ika at least once. However, when she landed, it wasn't Ika she found herself facing.

"Long time no see."

Coral froze. "Oh. Hi."

Finn just looked at her silently, his yellow eyes cold and unforgiving.

"So, uh... it's a lovely day out, isn't it?" She gestured to the iron grey clouds in the sky.

Finn really needed to start appreciating sarcasm more, thought Coral as she shook off ink after having respawned for the third time that match. Although, she supposed, she kinda had that last one coming.

When the match ended and Coral went to get the results, she was disappointed but not surprised to learn that she and her team had been absolutely annihilated. "That's fair," she mused as she caught Judd giving her a rather pitying look. With less than thirty percent of the stage to claim as her own, it was no wonder she'd lost. Besides, she'd spent more time trying to avoid Finn and Ika than actually participating in the match. Speaking of Finn and Ika -

"Hey, Coral!" Ika was waving her over, her roller still in her hand. "S-sorry about splatting you so much!"

Coral waved a hand, dismissing Ika's statement.

"Are you usually this useless during a match?"

The Inkling blinked, looking up at Finn, who was giving her a rather disgusted glare.

"That was rude," Coral commented. "I didn't see you putting much effort in either, Mr. Only-one-kill-and-it-was- _me_."

Ika giggled, and Finn merely raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't stand around and talk during a turf war."

"Yeah? Well, you shouldn't splat someone when they least expect it!"

"Isn't that kinda the point of the game?"

"Ah."

"And I seem to remember you shooting me in the back of the head earlier, Miss you-shouldn't-splat-someone-when-they-least-expect-it."

Coral was taken aback. "Gee, when did you get so snarky?"

Ika let out another soft giggle. "He learnt from the best!"

"You mean me?" Coral put a hand on her puffed out chest. "Why, I'm honored!"

Finn sighed. "Don't inflate her ego."

"Inflate my ego? Why, Finn, my ego could never swell as big as your head."

Ika burst into laughter, dropping the handle of her roller.

"Unbelievable," muttered Finn, and he turned away. "Oi, Ika, it's not that funny. We're going home. I can't stand another turf war with this idiot here." He gestured to Coral with the barrel of his Blaster and the Inkling stuck out her tongue at his back.

"Y-yeah, okay!" Ika gave Coral a wave before picking up her roller from the ground. "It was nice seeing you!"

"It was nice seeing you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friends??? Maybe???


	22. Apologies

"I can't believe I'm _doin_ ' this," hissed Arden. "How'd ya manage to covince me if ya can't even _talk_?"

Berry only pulled more insistently on Arden's hand and the two of them sped up, picking their way through the dark corridors. Arden wished with all their heart that they were in bed but, as their mother had once said: "ya don't get what ya want, only what ya need." Although frankly, Arden couldn't see how they needed this at all.

The Octoling adjusted their goggles, watching in amusement as Berry did the same. Of course, the goggles didn't come in children's size, so Berry was stuck with an oversized pair that kept slipping down their nose. They needed the goggle's 'night'-vision capabilities, otherwise Arden wouldn't have bothered stealing an extra pair. The poor kid pushing up their goggles every few seconds was probably the only funny thing in a very un-funny situation, and Arden clung to that in the hopes that it would make this next hour more bearable.

After much walking (and, in Berry's case, bumping into things), the two of them reached their destination. It was a large-ish room, lit - like most of the rooms when it wasn't Lights Out - by a single bulb. It was probably the only room that was constantly lit, despite the curfew. Smack bang in the middle of it was a single respawn pad, the focus of Berry's - and Arden's (grudging) interest. Arden continued complaining in hushed tones as the pair approached the pad.

"So, normally I'd be all for breakin' the law, but there's no fuckin' point to this whatsoever. I couldn't give a rat's arse whether ya live or die, so this is just a waste of time. I don't know why I even _suggested_ it - what?"

Berry was giving them that face again. That 'have you finished complaining yet' face.

"No I haven't finished complanin' yet," whispered Arden furiously. "As a matter of fact - stop _ignorin_ ' me!"

The child had turned away and was wondrously looking around at the room. It was lined wall to wall with weaponry, gear and armour. A heap of breastplates sat in one corner, there was a wall completely devoted to Octoshots piled up on shelves and discarded pieces of armour lay here and there. It wasn't really a room a child should be looking around wondrously. 

Arden stopped complaning immediately and grinned. "This is my favourite room in the entire compound." They walked over to a shelf and picked up one of the Octoshots, inspecting the nicks and scratches covering the gun. "Great, isn't it?" Returning the weapon to the shelf, Arden turned to Berry. The older Octoling hesitated, lifting an orange tentacle out of one eye before sighing and turning their gaze on the pad. "Let's get this over with."

It was all going smoothly for about three seconds. Berry was complacently kneeling next to the pad, midway through synching with it when Arden's head suddenly shot up. Footsteps had begun to echo down the corridor, boots stomping on the metal floor. Two Octolings, from what Arden could tell.

"Fuck." They hastily glanced around the room, searching for a place to hide, amd their eyes alighted on the only place they could think of. Quickly snatching Berry up and interrupting their synching, Arden dumped the child on top of the ink-covered pad and hissed: "Octopus. Now."

Agonisingly slowly (and with a very confused expression on their face) Berry began to shrink down into their octopus form.

"No, no _no_ ," whined Arden as quietly as they could. "Fuckin' forgot kids can't do it fast! Hurry up!"

Voices could be discerned now. Two females: one of them a high-ranking office worker Arden couldn't care less about, and the other one - _oh no. Well,_ thought Arden, _this is certainly turnin' out to be an interesting night._

Finally, some fun.

Turning back to Berry, Arden internally groaned to see that the child was only halfway through their transformation. "Come on," they muttered, pushing down on Berry's head as if that would make it go faster. Meanwhile, the footsteps got louder, voices bouncing off walls and setting Arden's heart racing in both thrill and panic.

"We are unable to send out anyone into Inkopolis at present time, Commander."

"Surely you could spare a soldier or two?"

"Taking back the zapfish has to take priority. And besides, we cannot risk it. If a soldier were to be caught..."

"What if I knew someone who could get in and out without being caught?"

There was a mocking laugh. "Surely you don't mean that rapscallion of Sector 11? That Arden is more hassle than they're worth."

"Rude," muttered Arden as they glanced down at Berry. They saw, with no small amount of joy, that the kid had finally submerged themselves in the ink. _Fuckin' finally_. Arden quickly hopped in and crept to the rim, still listening to the two Octolings' (now slightly muffled due to being underink) conversation.

"You have no idea what that kid is capable of."

"Commander Sylvette, with all due respect, I just can't -"

Sylvette cut her off. "What other choice do we have?"

"But Sir, how do we know Alda isn't - ah - forgive me, but how can we be certain she isn't dead?"

"We can't."

The footsteps had begun fading into the distance, and so Arden deemed it safe to come out. As they easily switched to their human form, they watched Berry slowly doing the same. Now that they were out of immediate danger, the child's slow process just seemed amusing. That was, until the kid's oversized goggles reformed.

 _Mental note to self_ , thought Arden. _Get a pair of these in kid's size._

The loud 'clang' as the goggles slipped off Berry's face and hit the floor silenced what seemed like the entire compound. Arden immediately burst into action, shoving the half-formed Berry back into the ink amd climbing back in themself just as Sylvette started storming back the way she'd come.

Arden and Berry held perfectly still even as Sylvette's heavy boots came into veiw. The Commander took one look around the room, then stalked forwards until she was standing directly in front of the pad where the two Octolings hid. She bent down and picked up the pair of goggles Berry had dropped, then turned as the office worker rounded the corner.

"Commander, we're going to be late for the meeting!"

Sylvette hesitated.

"It's probably just Arden misbehaving again, you know how they are."

"Arden, I'm giving you one chance to show yourself or I'm cutting your rations for a week."

Arden burst from the ink immediately, an affronted expression on their face. "Ya can't cut my rations! What'll I do, starve?"

"There you are," growled Sylvette. "I had a feeling you were in here. What are you up to?"

"Eavesdroppin'," said Arden with a grin, pointedly looking over to the office worker. "S'rude to talk about other people behind their back, y'know."

"Are these your goggles?" Sylvette held up the pair that Berry had dropped.

"Yeah." The Octoling gestured to their now goggle-less face. "They fell off when I did a dramatic head-turn upon hearin' my name."

The Commander sighed, putting a hand over her face and tossing the goggles to Arden. "Go to bed."

"Aye aye," said Arden with a grin. "Have fun with that meetin'. Don't talk about me too much, even though I am the only thing worth talkin' about."

"Shut up." Sylvette left quickly, leaving Arden once more alone in the room. Almost alone.

Berry stayed submerged for a good ten seconds before transforming and stepping out of the ink. They held out the pair of goggles that Arden had left behind upon being caught, and Arden tossed the other pair into a corner, making sure to throw it onto a pile of clothes so that it wouldn't make a noise. "Ya not wearin' any more goggles 'till I get some in kid's size," announced the older Octoling quietly. "Finish synchin', then let's go to bed." 

_If we get back in one fuckin' piece, that is._

* * *

"Today was fun, huh?"

"Yeah!" Ika beamed into the reciever.

"I never knew you had such ice-cream decorating skills!"

"Y-yours was cute too!"

"Nah, it couldn't hold a candle to the perfection of yours. The sprinkles expertly placed, the sauce - it looked like an ice-cream from an advert -"

Ika giggled. "Th-thank you!"

She could hear the smile in Coral's voice as the Inkling replied, "no prob, Small One. Hey, maybe you could teach Alda some of your tricks! Alda's ice-cream looked like a bombsite - you couldn't even see the ice-cream for all the toppings!"

In the background of the call, Ika could hear a "shut up!" and a "next time, I'll pour the bowl over your head!" and couldn't help but laugh again. "I'm so glad that Octolings like the same food as us! Next time we'll have to try -"

"What?"

Ika froze. That voice, sharp and angry, hadn't come from the other end of the reciever. It'd come from behind her. The short Inkling turned around, her heart missing a beat and her breath catching in her throat.

Fury pulsed in waves around the green Inkling - Ika had never seen Finn this angry in her life. She took a few frightened steps back.

He stalked forwards, snatched the phone off Ika and threw it hard against the wall. The screen cracked and it sprung apart, falling to the floor in pieces and Ika's empty hands shook as she let out a small whimper of fear.

"You! You lied to me! There _IS_ an Octoling living with Coral, _ISN'T THERE?!"_

Ika took a few unsteady steps back, tears prickling behind her eyes. She tried to say the word 'no', to defend her friend, but nothing came out, the words hesitating on her tongue. All she could do was stare at the floor and hope that Finn didn't come any closer than he already was.

"What, are you _friends_ with it, or something?" Finn spat bitterly.

Ika wanted so badly to say yes. She wanted to stand up for Alda, to tell Finn how great of a person the Octoling was, but still she couldn't speak.

"Well, it makes no difference. It'll end up DEAD EITHER WAY!"

" _Wait_!" burst out Ika. "Please d-don't... don't kill her!"

Finn didn't listen. Whirling around, he flung the door open, then slammed it shut behind him. When he did, it felt like the force of that one slam had shook the entire world.

Ika knew without a doubt where he was going, and that there was no way to stop him - athough even if there had been a way, Ika would've been too petrified to even approach him.

Knowing that her mobile was in no condition to be used, she grabbed the house phone and fumbled with the buttons, punching in Coral's number as fast as she could with shaking hands. When she heard Coral's voice on the other end, she began to cry.

"Ika? What's going on?"

"F-F-Finn's on h-his way n-now. I... I couldn't stop him, I'm s-so sorry, C-Coral, I... I...

... _I'm so sorry."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:3c


	23. Druxy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok so it's a bit late but it's longer than usual so, uh... I'm forgiven, right?
> 
> Anyway! I'm changing the way I do chapter titles! They're all now gonna be some cool ass word I find on pinterest because im a nerd
> 
> Druxy - something whole on the outside, but rotten inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp its 3am im not sure how this positivity thing works but ill give it a go
> 
> Right so uh *shuffles cuecards* um, im not a shitty write- *drops cuecards* fuck
> 
> Today's positivity will be rescheduled sorry for any inconvenience
> 
> RIGHT OK YES IM GOING TO BED NOW OK GOODNIGHT

_"...I'm so sorry."_

Coral's mouth suddenly went very dry, and she licked her lips, trying to think of the right thing to say. "Uh," she said, "we may have a problem."

Alda frowned. "What kind of problem?"

"A Finn problem."

"A Finn problem as in-?" Alda's face turned ashen. "Oh." She immediately leapt up and ran to the window, yanking the curtain aside to look out.

"He won't be here yet," said Coral. "But give it a few minutes." Her voice had faded to a whisper by the end of her sentence, and she opened her phone.

Her lockscreen was a picture of the three of them - Ika, Finn and Coral - standing with their arms around each other. Smiles were on each of their faces; Coral and Ika were grinning stupidly at the camera. Finn had even mustered a smile for the occasion, yellow eyes twinkling in a way that Coral hadn't seen for weeks. She turned her phone off.

"We should leave."

"Where would we go?" Coral said hopelessly.

"Somewhere he won't find us, obviously!"

"There isn't anywhere."

"There must be!"

"Nah. He'll find us. And we'd be just as dead as we would be staying here."

"You're deranged. Are you seriously suggesting we just wait here for him to come knock on our door? What are we gonna do, offer him tea and biscuits?"

Coral shrugged. "If you've got any good ideas, I'm open to hearing them."

"Yes, I have an idea! Leaving!"

"I said _good_ ideas."

"Would you rather get splatted into oblivion?"

"At this point, I'd welcome it."

Alda let out a growl of frustration. "Look, if you don't get your fucking _butt_ off that fucking _sofa_ , I will make it my _personal mission_ to make the rest of your life as hellish as possible, do you hear me?"

"You already make my life hellish just by being around."

"Well, I'm not going to be around for much longer unless we move!"

"Like I said, it'll make no difference. He's gonna find us, no matter what. What's the point?"

Stalking over to Coral, Alda seized the Inkling by the shoulders and shook her, hard. "Listen up, Inkstink," she hissed. "If we don't get moving, I will _die_ and it will be _your fault._ If we stay here, our dumb fucking fate is sealed. At least if we run, it might give us a chance of escape. Do you want my fucking blood on your hands?"

That seemed to shake something in Coral, as she finally nodded and pushed herself to wobbly feet. "You're right," she whispered. "Sorry."

"Good." Alda pulled on a pair of boots and yanked her hood up as she walked to the door. "And don't you dare start crying," she warned, shooting a glance over her shoulder.

Coral shook her head vehemently and, when Alda had turned back around, discreetly wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

When she reached the door, she took one last look around. Who knew if, or when, she'd ever see it again?

* * *

It was a mere five-minute walk from Ika's place to Coral's. That was, if Finn had been walking.

The Inkling was running as fast as he could, sprinting around bends and down roads, fueled by pure determination with a generous helping of fury and betrayal. His plan was simple: knock both traitors unconscious, drag the Inkling out of Inkopolis and leave it there, then take the Octoling out somewhere he could legally shoot and kill it. He just had to get there quickly enough; no doubt Ika - the traitorous wretch - had forewarned Coral of Finn's arrival.

His heart thudded in his chest as he slowed his pace, approaching Coral's house. The gate had been left wide open, and Finn wondered for a moment if they'd done a runner. He tested the door handle - locked. Considering his options, Finn hesitatingly pushed some of his weight against the door. When it creaked wearily, he slammed his shoulder into it and it gave way surprisingly easily.

As he walked in, he surveyed the living room. It was quiet and empty, but there were signs of life here and there: an opened bag of crisps on the floor, an upside-down book on the sofa and a mug of coffee on the table. It was still warm, which meant they'd been here recently. Either they were hiding somewhere, or they'd received the message from Ika and ran. Finn did a quick scout of the house; if they really had left, he'd need to hurry.

While looking around upstairs, he found a few of Coral's weapons: a Splat Charger, an Inkbrush and, lo and behold, an N-ZAP '85. However, it wasn't the weapon Finn was interested in - it was the special. Attached to the gun was a special that he considered invaluable under the circumstances: an Echolocator. _Perfect_.

Dismantling the weapon as hastily as he could, Finn pulled out the Echolocator and activated it. The arrow, he hoped, would lead him to the last person to use the weapon: Coral. The little holographic string attached itself to him and shot off in the opposite direction.

He immediately dashed down the stairs, leaving the house a mess and the broken door hanging on one hinge. The wind was blowing a cold, harsh breeze on Finn's face and, Echolocator clasped tightly in one hand, the Inkling began once more to run.

He was not about to let this opportunity slip out of his hands. This time, he would stop at nothing to eradicate the Octarian scum, once and for all.

* * *

It took Alda exactly sixty-four seconds to realise that Coral was absolutely no good at running. Worse than no good; the Inkling was out of breath, bending over and clutching her knees. _You'd think that the possibility of my death would speed her up a little_ , thought Alda. Despite the Octoling being out of shape herself, she was easily able to outstrip Coral, who had begun to whine.

"Must I remind you that if we don't get moving, I'm going to die?"

"You may have mentioned it," gasped Coral inbetween breaths, "like, a th... a thousand times?"

"Yeah, well it's worth repeating again. Please, don't sit dow- oh, for fuck's sake!"

Coral had flopped down onto a nearby bench, clutching her sides and making a pitiful attempt to regain her breath. "It's not as if he's... going to find us. We've been running for, what..."

"Two minutes," clarified Alda.

Coral waved a hand in dismissal. "Your perceptions of... time are screwed. Besides, we took a load of detours, there's no way he can... find us -" she stopped abruptly, staring down at her midriff. A holographic string seemed to have attached itself to her, spanning a little ways over the neighborhood. Coral's face immediately paled, her eyes widening in recognition. "Oh. N-nevermind."

"What? What's that?"

"This has, uh, thrown a bit of a spanner in the works. We might have to run."

"That's what I've been trying to tell y-"

Coral seized Alda's wrist and began to sprint in the opposite direction the beam was coming from. She somehow managed to stay ahead of Alda, keeping hold of the Octoling's arm and putting on a burst of speed.

Coral began to slow after a while, though, and Alda could tell she was struggling. It was only when she heard a small sob did she pull the Inkling to a stop.

"I thought I told you not to cry," said Alda, but it came out less mean than she'd intended.

"I... I'm sorry."

"You gonna tell me just what the fuck is going on?"

"We're screwed, that's what's going on."

"I'm aware," Alda said drily, sounding not unlike her mother.

"No, you don't understand! Finn, he has - he has an Echolocator!"

"A what?"

"This!" Coral gestured to the beam attached to her midriff. "It's used in... in turf wars to find another player. It... it points in the direction of... well..."

"Of the person you want to find?"

"Exactly. So now you know why we're _screwed_."

"So, this... this line thingy, it points..."

"To Finn. It points to Finn. Do I have your permission to cry now?"

"No," said Alda. "We have to run."

"That's what I've been saying! We need to go before he finds us - "

"Too late."

* * *

Ika stood dithering at the door for a few minutes. One one hand, she didn't want her friends to get hurt, but on the other hand, she didn't want to get hurt either. She worried nervously at the hem of her skirt, pulling at the threads until they snapped. What was she going to do? What if she turned up and both Coral and Alda were dead? What if she couldn't find them?

It took Ika another minute and another million 'what if's before she mustered the courage to leave the house. Once she'd shut the door behind her, she knew that it was too late to back out, as much as she wanted to retreat to the safety of her home.

 _I can do this,_ she thought. Then: _and even if I can't, I have to._

* * *

The Echolocator had been discarded on the floor, a large crack spanning across it from where it had been wrenched out of the weapon. It's holographic beam had long since flickered out. The small, broken object seemed pitiful, but it had an air of almost judgement as it surveyed the scene playing out in front of it.

_What a dick._

Now was probably not the time to get distracted by judgemental Echolocators, noted Finn as he dodged another of the Octoling's punches. Retaliating in kind, Finn made sure to stomp on the Echolocator the next time he came near it.

Turning his attention on the Octoling, he decided to make a mental note of a few things as he fought. For one, the Octoling was great at dodging punches. Two: it was terrible at delivering them. Three: its body seemed to be poised to run at any moment. Finn could tell that this Octoling was experienced - if only at running away.

Taking advantage of a momentary opening, Finn kicked its legs out from underneath it, knocking it to the ground. As soon as it hit the gravel, it scrambled backwards, trying to push itself back up. _Pathetic_. Before Finn could do anything, though, a voice rang out.

"Wait! Stop!"

He quickly glanced over too see who had spoken, eyes narrowing when he saw Coral running over. The Octoling seemed to have noticed, too, as it hissed a stream of curse words under it's breath. Without even looking down, Finn slammed the Octoling's head into the ground then, after checking it was inert, turned to Coral. "You," he snarled, " _bastard_."

He left the Octoling lying on the floor and stomped towards Coral, who trembled, but stood her ground. Finn had to commend her for that, if for nothing else. "Traitor."

"I may be a traitor, but at least I'm not a murderer."

"Your friend isn't dead."

"But you're dying to fix that, though? No pun intended."

Finn didn't say anything.

"Why are you doing this? Why -"

"Do you ever shut up?" Finn closed the distance between him and Coral. Seizing one of her tentacles, he twisted and wrenched it downwards, ignoring Coral's cries of pain. "You're not the fucking heroine. You're not the hero Inkopolis deserves. You're just a little girl out of her depth and who has no idea what she's doing or what she's gotten herself into -" he was interrupted by Coral slamming her knee into his crotch, suddenly and without warning.

"Shut the fuck up, _Binn_ ," Coral spat. "You don't know anything. _Anything_." She kicked him again as he stumbled back, groaning in pain. "Alda is not a bad person, and I will not stand by and let you kill her. Got that, Binn?"

Finn saw red. How dare she? How dare she presume to know more than him? How dare she speak to him, how dare she hurt him, _how dare she?!_ What was left of his calm and cool facade shattered and the enraged Inkling lunged forwards.

The rest was a blur. It seemed to last years and yet only moments at the same time. Finn could only recall fragments: his knees slamming into gravel, the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, an ache in his chest that he couldn't place.

It was all over in a matter of seconds as Finn felt a rough hand on his head, yanking him back by the tentacles.

"You _dare_ touch her," snarled a voice Finn had never heard before. The owner of the voice pulled him back and dumped him on the floor, a sharp kick to the stomach making him roll over and grit his teeth.

"You dare hurt her." Another kick. "You dare lay a _finger_ on her." And another.

Finn managed a glance up, and caught sight of the Octoling towering above him, its hood finally down, bright red and unruly tentacles falling about it's shoulders. It's eyes contained so much rage that Finn felt almost afraid as she - _it_ raised its foot to kick him again.

This time, Finn grabbed hold of its ankle, pulling and overbalancing it. He dragged himself up (despite his limbs beginning to feel like lead) and landed a blow on the Octoling's face. There was another blur then, full of ringing ears and aching muscles and violence.

Then the blur was cleared, once again, by a foreign hand on his arm. This time - in stark contrast to the last voice - the words were uttered almost softly, speaking in tongues that he couldn't discern past the ringing in his ears. Without paying much attention, he lashed out in the direction of the voice, his fist connecting with something near him. It was probably a face. Good.

When the blur had properly gone and the ringing in his ears had died down, Finn turned to see what he'd hit - and his heart skipped several beats.

Standing there, with one hand on her face and tears in her eyes, was Ika.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Takumi voice* Octarian scum!!!
> 
> Finn is only allowed to be referred to as 'Binn' now. Because he is Trash


	24. Abditory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LATE CHAPTER WHOOOOPS /however/ it's the longest chapter by far (I think) so,,,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abditory - a place into which you can disappear; a hiding place.

"Would you stop moving?"

Coral lowered her squirming and wincing to a minimum as Alda applied a last bandage to her knee. When she was done, the Inkling looked down at herself and smiled faintly. "I look like a mummy."

Alda didn't say anything. She packed up the spare bandages, her body tense and rigid.

"Alda?"

"What?"

"Um... Thanks for patching me up."

"No problem."

"Is... is something wrong?"

"No."

"Ah... alright." Coral rubbed a bruise forming on her arm, about to say something else when there was a knock on the door. Both of their heads immediately shot up.

"I'll get it," Alda said tersely.

Coral couldn't bring herself to protest, watching as Alda got up from the sofa, pulling her hood up and going over to the door. Alda's hand hesitated on the handle, and the broken door creaked loudly when the Octoling finally pulled it open. Coral saw the tension somewhat drop from Alda's shoulders and sat up so she could see who'd knocked.

"I-I brought some cookies..." Ika trailed off, holding out a large container to Alda - who wordlessly took it and stepped back to let the short Inkling in.

Coral let out a sigh of relief. She knew what she'd been expecting, and it wasn't Ika.

Ika and Coral's eyes met, and Ika gasped and dashed into the livingroom, almost tripping over as she did. "Are you okay?! You - y-you have so many bruises!"

Coral smiled gently. "I'm fine, Small One. No need to worry. I bruise easily, that's all."

Ika's lip began to wobble, and Coral patted the seat next to her, gesturing Alda to sit on her other side in the same motion. "Let's watch TV or something, 'kay?" She kept smiling, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

The Inkling proceeded to put on a film, Ika and Alda joining her on the sofa and huddling up. A minute into the opening credits, Coral disappeared into the kitchen, returning with three drinks: a tea for Ika (in her favorite mug), a hot chocolate for Alda (with little marshmallows) and a coffee for herself. She also brought a bowl for the cookies, and Alda and Ika immediately set about devouring them.

Coral tried to concentrate on the film. It seemed quite interesting; the plot was centered around four kids who hid in a wardrobe and discovered a whole other world inside of it. She found her mind wandering upstairs, to her own wardrobe. How nice would it be, she thought, to have a little place that you could hide in for a while? She wouldn't have to feel anything for Alda, she wouldn't have to see Finn, she wouldn't have to worry about Ika. She wouldn't have to feel that horrid stab of guilt whenever she caught sight of the bruise on Ika's face, or the grazes on the palms of Alda's hands. Yes, a place to hide away from it all would be very nice.

The protagonists of the film had just arrived at the ice castle when Ika's lip began to wobble again.

Coral, sensing that something was amiss, quickly spoke up. "Ika, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing."

"You can't fool me, Small One."

"It-it's just - I'm sorry! I - I feel like it's all my fault that you got hurt-"

"What? Of course it isn't-"

"It is! I was the one w-who m-messed up and - and Finn found out and - I'm sorry..."

"You're wrong," Alda said suddenly, setting down the almost-empty bowl of cookies. "You made a mistake, that's all. It happens."

"But-"

"No buts!" Coral wrapped an arm around Ika. "We don't blame you at all."

"I... I guess." Ika still sounded uncertain.

"Look, Ika." Alda snapped her cookie in two. "We don't mind that you let Finn know about me. As far as we care, Finn can go fuck himself. And we've all made mistakes, so it's not as if we're never gonna forgive you. So you can quit your whining -"

"Okay, Alda, thanks for your input," said Coral with a smile. "It was inspiring until you told Ika to shut up -"

Ika began to giggle, and Coral looked down at her with a matching smile.

"I had a valid point," muttered Alda, continuing to break up her cookie.

"Yeah, you're right," Coral said. "Ika, you made a mistake, that's all. We forgive you. And besides, it's not your fault at all that anyone was hurt - you weren't the one doing the hurting. You're not to blame." She couldn't help but feel as if she was comforting herself rather than Ika, but the pink Inkling bought her words anyway, finally returning Coral's hug and beaming up at her.

"Th-thank you!"

"No prob, Small One."

They went back to watching the film then, Ika munching on her cookies with a much happier expression than before. For the remaining duration of the film, the three of them were silent, simply enjoying each other's company and the distraction from their thoughts that it provided.

Once the film had finished, Ika stood up to leave. "Thank you for letting me v-visit! I really should be going now, though -"

Alda and Coral shared a brief glance - a look that clearly read: _we can't let her go home alone_ and Coral immediately hopped to her feet. Neither wanted to risk Ika being out by herself when they couldn't be certain where Finn was.

"Um, why don't you stay here for tonight? We could have a - uh - a sleepover!" Coral could feel Alda's glare even when she wasn't looking. The glare probably read something like: _you could've just offered to walk her home_ or _she is_ not _sleeping in my bed._

"Oh, sure! But, um, I should probably pop b-back to my house and get some pajamas -"

"Oh, no, that's fine," interjected Alda. "Coral will have a load you can borrow."

Coral shot her a look that said something along the lines of _shut up,_ then turned back to Ika with the sweetest smile she could manage. "I think I actually have a pair of yours that you left behind the last sleepover we had. Stay here while I go get them, 'kay?" She shot Alda another look - _don't let her leave_ \- and strode out of the room.

By the time she came back, pink fleecy pajamas in hand, Ika had situated herself back on the sofa. Coral took a moment to stand in the doorway and watch them both.

Ika was bobbing her head along to a Squid Sisters song that'd just come on TV, while Alda was busy dusting off the carpet of crumbs that'd accumulated on her lap. Coral found it bizarre how she'd gotten a crush on someone who'd just managed to get cookie crumbs in every nook and cranny of her sofa.

Coral walked in, handed the pajamas to Ika then turned to Alda with a wry smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "I swear. You've gotten crumbs _eveywhere_." Ignoring Alda's sheepish expression, she continued: "I'm never going to be able to get rid of them. I'm going to be finding cookie crumbs in the depths of my arsehole when I'm in the _retirement home_." Coral paused, considering something. "I'm gonna have to... clean it up."

Alda's face quickly turned from sheepish to horrified. "Wait - no - hold on -"

Coral all but swaggered from the room, Alda quickly following at a safe distance. When they got to the kitchen, the Octoling hung back, watching almost fearfully as Coral went into the darkest corner and opened a cupboard door.

"Wait, Coral," Alda said meekly, "I could... I could clean it up myself."

Coral snorted. "How? What are you gonna do, pick up all the crumbs individually? Nah. Much quicker to use _this_ -" on the last word, she pulled out the contraption.

Alda began to back away towards the door, away from Coral and her strange machine. The contraption was black, with a long tube attached to a container that made a loud _whrr_ ing noise. Coral called it a 'vaccum cleaner'. Alda called it 'horrifying', 'hellish' and 'more terrifying than all the Great Octoweapons put together'. When Coral began dragging it to the livingroom, Alda turned tail and ran.

"HELP!"

Ika quickly jumped up, squeaking: "what?! What's g-going on?!" She turned the the door just as Coral appeared in it, holding the loudly whrring vaccum over her head, a glint in her eyes and a devilish grin on her face.

Despite Alda being significantly taller than Ika, the Octoling ran and hid behind her. "It's - it's like it's _alive_!"

It took Ika a second for the situation to sink in and, when it did, she burst out laughing. "A-Alda, it's just the vaccum!"

"It's not just the vaccum," shrieked Alda. " _That thing_ is a _monster_!"

"Oi," said Coral, with some irritance. " _That thing_ cost me a fortune. _That thing_ is cleaning up the mess that _you_ made. I'd be a little appreciative." Coral waved the nozzle in Alda's direction in a threatening manner, and the Octoling immediately shut up.

Alda stayed put behind Ika as Coral cleaned, continuing to mutter under her breath. Ika could make out " _that thing_ ", "fuck off" and "my mother would lose her _shit_ ". Alda didn't come out from her hiding place until the vaccum had been put away, and would keep glaring daggers at Coral for the rest of the evening. She made sure not to spill any more crumbs, though.

It'd gotten rather late by that point, and everyone was tired. It had been so long a day that, when Coral announced that it was bedtime, no-one protested.

Alda went to bed surprisingly willingly, with none of her usual reluctance or complaints. Coral supposed she should be glad, but she found she missed Alda's usual incompetence. After the day's events, they were all worn out and shaken - Alda especially. It had been a long day, and now all the three of them wanted was a long sleep.

Brushing off Ika's protests at sleeping in Coral's bed, Coral practically herded them upstairs. Alda went straight into her room and shut the door, but Ika hesitated.

"What's up?"

Ika shook her head. "Nothing." She was silent until she'd climbed into bed, then she turned to look at Coral. Coral flicked the light off and was closing the door when Ika spoke up again. "C-Coral?"

"Mhm?"

"C-could you leave the door open, just a little bit?"

"Sure."

"And - um, Coral?"

"Mhm?"

Ika paused then, shuffling around a bit. "Do... um... Where do you think Finn is now?"

"I don't know." Coral let out a short, humorless laugh. "Who cares, honestly?"

"Me! I do. I care! I want to know where he is! I'm worried..."

"You shouldn't worry. Finn can take care of himself - and anyway, in the face of all the bad stuff he's done, what does it matter if he disappears off the face of the planet?"

"I think it matters," Ika said quietly. "I think... I think he feels bad."

"I don't know, Ika. He didn't seem to feel very bad when he was beating us all up."

"He wasn't beating us all up. Y-you and Alda stood up to him."

Coral sighed. "Look, my point is, he doesn't care. And neither should we."

"Y-you're just giving up on him," Ika said stubbornly. "But I won't. I _know_ him, I _know_ he can be good!" She turned large, pleading eyes on Coral, who merely sighed again.

"Goodnight, Ika."

"...Goodnight."

* * *

Coral couldn't sleep. It wasn't dark enough; there was a pale light streaming through the too-thin curtains. It wasn't comfortable enough; the awkward shape of the sofa made reclining absolute hell. It wasn't warm enough; the thin, threadbare blanket scarcely held in any body heat at all. Not to mention the thoughts racing around her head and near light speed. How was she supposed to sleep like this? Coral was half-wishing she'd made Ika sleep on the sofa instead.

Suddenly, footsteps on the stairs could be heard. Coral sat up slowly and watched as a figure padded to the kitchen. "...Alda?"

"Oh. I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"What are you up for?"

"I was getting a drink."

Swinging her legs over the sofa, Coral said: "I'll get it. I don't want you to drop anything."

"I'm perfectly capable -"

"Look, just go along with it, okay? I can't sleep and I've got nothing better to do."

Alda fell silent and allowed Coral to follow her into the kitchen. The lamp went on with a 'click' and the pair blinked in the sudden bright, harsh light.

Coral immediately set about making a hot chocolate, her back to the Octoling. "Hey, uh, Alda?"

"What?"

"I... I probably should apologize for today."

"Why?"

"Well -" Coral's hands began to shake, and she put down the tin of cocoa powder so she wouldn't spill any. "I'm supposed to protect you. I promised. And - well - I kinda did the exact opposite of that today, didn't I?"

Alda let out a quiet sigh, turning Coral around and pulling her into a hug. "You... you're blaming yourself?"

"It's justified."

"I... I guess I know how you feel."

"Huh?"

"I blame myself, too. If I'd have never come here, none of this would've happened -"

"But then none of the good things would've happened either!"

"Good things?" said Alda skeptically. "What good things?"

"Good things like this," said Coral, wrapping her arms around Alda as tight as she could. She hid her burning face in Alda's shirt and hoped that Alda couldn't tell how fast her heart was beating.

"...You're an idiot."

"I know."

"I still don't see why you blame yourself, though. You've done fuck all wrong, you're not at fault at all -"

"If it's so easy to say that to me," Coral said quietly, "why is it so hard to say it to yourself?"

"Because - fuck, I don't know - " there was a slight crack in Alda's voice "I'm a bad person -"

"What?! Why do you think that?" When Coral got no response, she continued: "you're not a bad person."

"Could've fooled me."

"Hey, listen. A friend once told me this: it's not as black and white as 'good person' and 'bad person'. There's just people, who've done good and bad things."

Alda snorted. "Look at you, being all wise -"

Laughing, Coral said, "let me speak! As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, people have done bad and good things, but it doesn't make them entirely 'bad' or 'good'. For example, you've done bad things, like getting cookie crumbs all over my sofa, taking the bookmark out of my books, or that one time you pointed a chair at me like a weapon -"

"Erm," interjected Alda indignantly, "I dropped it as soon as I saw you!"

"Yes, and you can still see the mark it made on the floor! But I digress. You've done plenty of good things, too, so you're not a bad person."

"Geez," Alda muttered, trying to supress a smile, "you and your words of wisdom. You always seem to think of the right things to say."

Coral laughed again. "I try."

"...Thank you."

"It's no problem." Coral paused then, hesitating. "Alda? Can I... ask something?"

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering - I mean, you don't have to tell me, I just..."

"Get on with it."

"I... Do you think... would you... will you tell me why you're here? In Inkopolis?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to those that can guess the film they were watching! :D


	25. Metanoia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is *jazz hands* late and I am *jazz hands* a lazy piece of shit
> 
> I have no excuse :^)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Metanoia - the journey of changing one's mind, heart, self or way of life.

His feet, as they usually did, carried him automatically to Octo Valley. It was a place he frequented whenever he felt sad or angry, a place that - with its quiet tranquility and peacefulness - often calmed him.

He quickly superjumped to the next platform, ignoring Captain Cuttlefish as the old man opened his mouth to speak. Once he landed, he began looking for a kettle to jump into and stepped off the pad. Almost immediately, a crippling pain in his side made him double over. _Shit_. He pulled up his shirt and examined his side; it was red and sore, with grazes marring his skin. It was most likely where he'd been kicked by that Octoling. Finn's lip curled in contempt.

Out of the blue, a strange thought took root in his mind.

_I deserved it._

Finn paused to let this thought take form.

_I deserved it for hurting Ika._

He froze, and his Blaster slipped out of his hands. He barely heard the ' _clang_ ' as it hit the metal floor.

_I deserved it for hurting Ika, and I deserved it for hurting Coral._

_They were my friends._

_My_ only _friends._

_My_ best _friends._

_What have I done?_

A strange wetness on his cheeks jolted him out of his thoughts. Bemused, he put a hand to his face. _I'm... crying?_

When had Finn last cried? He couldn't remember. It hadn't been recently, that was for sure; Finn wasn't the type to cry easily. Despite this, he let the tears stream silently down his face. He didnt bother wiping them away.

What he'd been doing, at the time, had made sense. Octarian = bad; that was the rule. When you saw a villain in a video game, you shot it - it was, Finn had assumed, the same for Octarians. Besides, an Octoling was the reason he'd been left motherless.

But... when that Octoling had stood towering over him mere minutes ago, the sheer unbridled emotion in it's - in her eyes was something he'd never seen before. That wasn't the emotion of the ruthless blood-thirsty Octarians he'd been killing, that was a girl who'd do anything to protect her friends. It was a far cry from what Finn had been doing. He felt another tear slip down his cheek.

Stubbornly rubbing his eyes, he picked up his weapon and carried on looking for a kettle to jump into. Fighting usually made him feel better; perhaps it would do so now.

As it turned out, fighting did _not_ make him feel better. Every time he aimed his weapon, every time he heard the ' _pop_ ' of another splatted Octarian, the guilt would send crippling waves of burning hot panic through his chest.

He steadied shaking hands on his Blaster. The pounding music grated against his eardrums, and Finn took a few wobbly steps forward. A "watch out!" from Agent 1 alerted him to an Octoling's presence and he aimed his weapon.

The Octoling grinned a familiar grin. "Wow. Who gave ya that black eye, Inkstink? I wanna give 'em flowers."

Finn blinked, not fully taking in what the Octoling had said over the loud music. His confusion then suddenly turned to realisation and he blurted: "you! It's you!"

"Me! It's me!" They carelessly tossed a splat bomb in Finn's direction, and Finn barely managed to bat it aside with his Blaster. "I've missed you!"

"Y... you have?"

The Octoling snorted. "No." They ducked into some ink and sped behind Finn. He didn't have time to react as they jumped out and slammed the barrel of their Octoshot against the side of Finn's head. "Someone's a little slow today, eh?"

Finn ducked into his own ink, hastily putting space between him and the leering Octoling.

"Hey, Berry," called the Octoling. "Watch this." They sent a seeker at Finn, and the Inkling barely managed to avoid being splatted. "Did ya see that?! Fancy, isn't it? I stole it from Sylvette."

Finn looked over to where the Octoling had directed their boasting. A small child poked their head around the side of a crate, quickly ducking back down when they caught sight of Finn emerging from his patch of ink. Finn recognized them as the child he'd almost shot not long ago. The thought of shooting them now made him feel sick to his stomach.

"You alright there?" The Octoling put a hand on their chin. "You're lookin' a little green -"

Finn half-heartedly tossed a bomb, which exploded not far from the Octoling and covered their side in green ink.

"Speakin' of green," they muttered, moving away from the new patch of ink and wincing. "Rude. I'm trying to have pleasant conversation, here!"

"I don't want pleasant conversation," said Finn flatly.

"Well, that's not very nice!"

The Inkling ignored them, sending another couple of shots with his Blaster.

"Ow," they complained as one caught them in the face. "Y'know, have ya ever thought about not attackin' people?"

There it was again; the burning hot guilt in his chest. He lowered his weapon.

"Luckily, _I_ haven't."

The last thing Finn saw before being splatted was the child stepping out from behind the crate, with an almost... worried expression.

* * *

"A-Arden of Sector 11?"

Arden looked up from the chocolate they were eating. "What?"

"The Commander wants to see you."

Arden raised an eyebrow. "What's she want now?"

"I haven't been told, but it's urgent, apparently. I'd go now, before she loses her temper. You know what she's like."

"I certainly do." They popped another piece of chocolate in their mouth and stood up.

The messenger nodded to them, then left. "And, uh," he added, poking his head around the corner, "she's in a particularly foul mood today. I'd be careful of where I tread." He paused, then: "I'm pretty sure you're the reason she's so pissed off, by the way. Good luck."

"Oh, well, thanks," said Arden sarcastically to the empty doorway. "Fuckin' rude."

* * *

Sylvette paced around her office, waiting for the Octoling she'd summoned to arrive. She looked up just as her door swung open.

"Sup, Sylvette?"

With a sigh, she ignored them and immediately began to speak. "Are you aware," she said crisply, "that you have been seen talking to an Inkling?"

Arden kept eating their chocolate.

"Precisely, an Inkling who goes by the name of Agent 3?"

Arden kept eating. The _snap_ of the chocolate every few seconds ground on Sylvette's nerves.

"Do you realise the severity of your actions?"

_Snap. Munch, munch_.

Sylvette drew a deep, steadying breath. "There are a lot of things that I can let slide, Arden. But this... Do you have any excuse for your behavior? If not, I will have to have you demoted."

Arden shrugged. "He's been actin' suspicious lately. Turned up with a load of cuts and bruises. I thought he might know something about Alda."

Her eyes widened. "You... you think?"

"Sure. Wouldn't have talked to him, otherwise."

"Did he say anything?"

"Nah."

"Unwilling to give up information, eh?" Sylvette's eyes glazed over with fury. "Well, that'll change soon enough." She turned away and began to rummage through files. "What do you think, Arden, ink or water?"

"Water?" Arden snorted. "I thought ya wanted information, not death."

"True," she mused. "Ink it is." The Commander seized a file triumphantly. "I'll go place an order for the equipment, and send out some soldiers to bring Agent 3 in." She looked unusually excited. "I don't get chance to do this very often."

"Wow. Sadistic, much?"

Sylvette whacked them over the head with the file.

"Ow," said Arden, feigning hurt. "Ya almost made me drop my chocolate." They paused for a second. "What's in that file, anyway?"

"It's... Alda's."

"Ah. May I see?"

Sylvette wordlessly handed them the file, and they began to flick through it. The first page was the newspaper article. The second page was a small bio.

_Name: Alda Askern_  
_Species: Octoling_  
_Sex: Female_  
_Sector: 1_  
_Occupation:_

Here, the word 'Gatherer' had been crossed out and replaced with 'soldier'.

Arden raised and eyebrow at Sylvette. "She was goin' to be a Gatherer?"

Sylvette sighed. "It was a foolish wish of her father's. Going Above is too dangerous, so... I could not permit it."

"It's not that dangerous. And anyway, they give guns to Gatherers, right? Proper ones, with metal bullets. Wish _I_ was a Gatherer," they added as an afterthought.

"It's too dangerous," she said firmly. "Maybe it wouldn't be dangerous for _you_ , because you've been Above more times than I've given you permission to. And, ah..." she hesitated. "About the gun... you wouldn't have happened to have seen _his_ lying about anywhere?"

"Caspian's gun?" Ignoring Sylvette's wince, Arden continued: "ya prized possession? Ya _lost_ it?!" They grinned, holding back laughter.

"I haven't _lost_ it - I've just misplaced it, is all -"

"When did ya lose it?"

"I haven't lost it! And I think it was a couple of months ago."

Arden burst into laughter. "I might have an idea where it is!"

"Where?"

Still laughing, they turned the file around to show Sylvette. Alda glared almost defiantly from the photo on the second sheet, and the Commander's mouth dropped open.

"You - you surely don't mean to tell me -"

Arden sniggered. "Do ya think she's shot anyone yet?"

" _Arden_!"

"Oh, I hope she has. I really hope she has."

* * *

Arden stood back to admire their artwork. For the past few minutes, they'd been busy vandalizing (or, in Arden's opinion, _improving_ ) a mural of Octavio on the wall. So far, Arden had given Octavio a moustache, a goatee and a pair of large, bright green eyebrows. Octavio's makeover was almost complete. Arden was about to add the finishing touches (they were considering eyeshadow) when there was a prod in their side.

Berry looked up at them with an unusually nervous expression.

"Kid, I'll be killed if someone sees ya. What do ya want?"

The child wrung their hands helplessly. Then, after Arden stayed silent, they grabbed the older Octoling's hand and began to tug.

"I ain't comin' with ya! I'm busy!"

Berry looked from Arden to the _improved_ mural.

"It's important," Arden insisted.

The child pulled again, their wide grey eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"Alright, alright, don't cry!" They gave in and tossed the can of spraypaint to one side. "Fuckin' hell, kid."

Arden followed them down towards the edge of the compound. They were lucky not to encounter anyone along the way; this area seemed eerily deserted. The sound of boots hitting the metal floor was the only sound Arden could hear, and they nervously put a hand on their switchblade, frowning. "Kid, this is... not a place we should be."

Berry, as usual, ignored them. They pointed to a room just ahead, a room blocked by a black, barred door. Arden slowed the child to a halt.

"Don't ignore me!" They sighed. "Kid... Berry, this really isn't a place we should be. Especially for a little kid." Their voice was quiet and unusually gentle. Trying to suppress the memories, they grimaced as their head filled with the past.

How naive and stupid had they been to wander down here all those years ago? They'd laughed in the euphoria of breaking the rules, not realizing the mistake they'd made. They remembered how they'd been smiling up until the first scream, then the grin had melted off their face. It was replaced with a look of horror, and they began to stumble back as cries of agony bounced off the walls.

Arden would give anything, _anything_ not to hear that scream again.

"Kid, we're goin' back."

Berry only pointed more insistently at the door.

"Ya... want me to look through the window?"

Berry nodded.

"Alright." They walked slowly up to the door and took a quick glance through the barred window. When they saw who was tied up inside, they let out a sigh of resignation. "I... I knew this was gonna happen." They looked down at Berry, who once more had tears in their eyes. "I don't understand why ya so upset. Ya want me to rescue him, right?"

Berry nodded, and a tear slipped down their cheek.

"Why are ya cryin' for him? What's he ever done to deserve ya pity?" They paused. "Kid, you're lookin' at me like _I'm_ the child. What is it I don't understand?"

Berry tugged on their arm again, and pointed to the floor.

"Ya... want me to kneel down? Alright." Arden complied. "What now?"

The two were eye-level, Berry's wide grey ones staring into Arden's narrow amber ones. The latter found themself wondering just how, when faced with a switchblade, Berry only smiled - but when someone else was in pain, they child could be so distraught.

Berry lifted a hand and placed it over their heart. Arden was confused, until the child reached out and placed a hand over Arden's heart, too.

Somehow, Arden knew what Berry was telling them. "Alright," they said in a quiet and hoarse voice, "alright. I'll get him out. But ya better get me some chocolate for this."

Berry's face split into a huge beam.

"All the chocolate ya can possibly find. I want a life-size statue of myself made of chocolate, okay?" Arden pulled the switchblade from their pocket. "Alright. Let's get this bastard free."

* * *

Finn looked up as the door was opened. Expecting to see the elite Octoling, his eyes widened when an all-too-familiar Octoling sauntered in, followed by an all-too-familiar child.

"Sup," said the Octoling. "I've come to save your ass from being tortured."

Finn stared. _Save my ass from being tortured?_

"I know I'm stunnin', but ya don't need to stare. Ya could maybe thank me, instead." They put on a falsetto. "'Oh, Arden, thank you ever so much from saving my sorry butt from the big, scary Sylvette-'" they were interrupted by the child pulling on their wrist. "Right, right, whatever. Rescuin', yadda yadda yadda."

Finn watched, too shocked to say anything, as the older Octoling - the one with orange tentacles and freckles - approached him.

"Right," they said as they held aloft a switchblade, "I'm not choppin' ya up, I'm cuttin' ya cords. Don't scream."

"Wait," said Finn, voice hoarse with misuse, "why?"

"Why?" They paused, confused. "Surely ya don't want to get tortured?"

"Well, no, but -"

"Then let me get ya free."

"I mean - why are you helping me?"

"Oh, trust me, buddy," they growled, "I don't wanna help ya. Luckily for you, though, _this one_ does." They gestured with their switchblade in the child's direction.

Finn's eyes alighted upon the child. "What's... your name?" he managed.

"They're called Berry. And I'm Arden. It's nice of ya to ask the names of the people rescuin' ya hide."

"Wow," said Finn as Arden began to cut him loose, "how many synonyms do you have for 'butt'?"

"Many," said Arden. Finn could detect a large amount of pride in their voice. "I'm glad someone appreciates my vast knowledge of butt-words."

"I figured, since all that comes out of your mouth is shit." Finn had taken that line from Coral, and revelled in Arden's expression. He could only imagine how proud Coral would be - but thinking about her sent another pang of guilt through his chest.

Arden stopped halfway through sawing through a knot. "Ya know, I could just leave ya here."

Finn fell silent. He wanted to be free, he couldn't deny that, but at the same time there was a niggling little voice in his head that whispered that he deserved to rot away here. Who would miss him, anyway?

"Thought so." The Octoling returned to cutting his bonds. "So, I've told ya my name, but what about yours? Do ya have a name? Or are all Inklings addressed with 'Agent' and then a number? Like, Agent three or Agent twenty-seven? Why, hello there, Agent thirty-four thousand, five hundred and twenty -"

"Finn."

"Finn? Nice name, Finn. Or should I say Agent thirty-four thousand, five hu -"

"Just Finn."

"Nice to meet ya, Just Finn. You're free, by the way."

Finn flexed his wrists, rubbing where the cords had dug into his skin. "Th... thanks."

"Don't mention it." Arden straightened up and folded up the switchblade. "But don't thank me yet; we've still gotta actually get out."

Finn got up off the chair, wincing slightly at the pain in his side. He lifted up his shirt again. His side was slowly turning black and blue, a few grazes staining his shirt with blood.

"Fuckin' hell. The fuck happened to ya?"

"Octolings happened to me."

"Occupational hazard?"

"Not really."

Arden raised an eyebrow. "Do tell? I take it the Commander wasn't the one to inflict this on ya? If it was, remind me to congratulate her later."

Finn glared.

Snorting, Arden said: "terrifyin'. Go on, Mr Scary Agent, who beat ya up?"

"None of your business."

"I'm the one savin' ya ungrateful butt. I would appreciate ya humourin' me."

"Fine." He sighed. "There's... an Octoling in Inkopolis. It put up a fight."

Arden grinned suddenly. "I'm sure she did. Fuckin' hell, what did ya do to piss her off?"

"I'm not sure."

"Ya didn't try to kill her, did ya?"

"I... I might've..."

The Octoling burst into laughter. "Ya realise you're not supposed to do that?"

"Well," Finn mumbled, "her and her friend did a good job of stopping me."

"Friend? There's another Octoling?"

"No," he hesitated. "There's... there's an Inkling."

"An Inkling, eh? This Octoling has an Inkling friend?"

Finn nodded, regretting he'd even opened his mouth. The amusement in Arden's eyes did little to reassure him.

"Oh dear. Sylvette's not gonna like this."

Finn frowned and opened his mouth to ask a question when Arden stopped suddenly, lifting a finger to their lips. Far away, voices and the _tmp tmp_ of boots could be heard echoing off walls.

"Speakin' of Sylvette..." the Octoling pointed at Berry. "Octopus. Ya know the drill." They pointed at Finn, "squid, right? Do ya squid thing. Quickly."

Finn didn't ask questions, quickly switching to his squid form. Arden bent and scooped him up, then stomped over to the slowly transforming Berry.

"Why," growled Arden, "do ya gotta take _ages_ every fuckin' time?"

When Berry was fully transformed, Arden seized them, too, stuffing both Berry and Finn under one arm. Finn wriggled uncomfortably.

Arden slipped out of the room, closing the door behind them and setting off in the opposite direction to the quickly nearing footsteps. "Stay still," they hissed at the struggling Inkling.

Finn lasted for three seconds before reforming and scrambling away from Arden as fast as he could.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, I don't have _time_ -" they reached out a hand towards the Inkling.

"Don't touch me," Finn spat.

Arden withdrew their hand, almost recoiling. "Alright, fine. If ya get caught, it's no fault of mine. Just... follow me." They began to run again, Finn following at a safe distance, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Finn was forced to duck into shadows, in crevices, under desks as the three of them made their way through the compound. He kept quiet, the only noise being the 'plop' as he occasionally turned into a squid to avoid the odd Octarian. Once he'd regained the ability to form words, he hissed in Arden's direction, "where the fuck are we?"

Arden hissed back, "shut up!"

Finn did as he was told for once, lapsing into another silence. What exactly was there to say?

He felt a sort of numbness settle over him, a veil of 'I don't care' despite the emotional turmoil within. Guilt, shame, fear, confusion, panic; there were so many emotions roiling inside him that he didn't know what to feel. So he didn't; he concentrated instead on his breathing, on his footsteps, on Arden's retreating back.

The Octoling had Berry tucked under one arm. Since the child's Octopus form was so tiny, it was easy for Arden to keep it out of sight.

_I wish it was that easy for me_ , Finn thought, once more turning into a squid and hiding under a desk as footsteps rounded the corner.

" _ARDEN!"_ yelled a voice that was vaguely familiar.

Arden turned around, keeping Berry hidden. "Yes?" they asked innocently.

The Octoling who'd spoken (or, rather, shouted) stomped up to Arden. Her long, dark purple tentacles swished behind her and the kelp on her head sat slightly askew. "Don't play innocent with me, Arden," she growled. " _The Inkling_ has gone missing." She put emphasis on 'The Inkling', making it sound like the words tasted like bleach.

Arden shrugged. "Go find him, then."

The Octoling backhanded them with a tattered file. "I know you know where he is."

Their grin widened as they spoke. "Oh, come on, Sylvette. If I told ya, that'd be no fun now, would it?"

The Octoling - Sylvette - whacked them again. "I'm sure it'll be no fun when I'm sorting out the paperwork for your exile!"

"Exile?! That's a bit harsh!"

"Talking to Inklings is against the rules. Talking to one once and with the correct motives I can forgive, but setting one loose in the compound -"

" _I_ didn't set him loose!"

"I don't believe that for a second."

"I didn't! I was simply walkin' past the room, and saw that the door was open! And I had no involvement in openin' it, either."

"Regardless, there is now an Inkling at large somewhere within the compound. Since I'm not fully convinced that you're innocent, I'm making you the one responsible for catching him."

Arden gawped. "C-catch him?! Me? I've got better things to do! I've got stalls to rob! Chocolate to eat! Murals of Octavio to graffiti! I can't be bothered catchin' some Inkling I don't give a toss about!"

Finn made a mental note to whack Arden once Sylvette had left.

Sylvette smiled grimly. "If you fail to bring him to my office by Lights Out, you're on cleaning duty for a month."

"...Did I ever tell ya that you're a shitty boss, and that I hate you?"

"Many times."

"Mind if I tell ya again?"

"Not at all."

"You're a shitty boss," Arden paused for dramatic effect, "and I hate you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finn and Berry are autistic, by the way :D  
> ( I just decided this ok)


	26. Foudroyant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foudroyant - dazzling, stunning in effect.

Alda had been born to a Commander and a Gatherer. An unlikely couple, many would say, but it seemed as if the two were happy together.

Caspian, being a Gatherer, loved plants. When he was sent Above to gather herbs, flowers and fruit, he'd always bring back a bouquet of flowers for Sylvette. The Commander's office was often full of pots and floral scents.

During the day, Caspian would teach Alda to read and write - a talent few Octarians had - and during the night, he'd venture out with his fellow Gatherers to supply the underground with plant life. As Alda grew older, she became more and more curious as to her father's nightly adventures.

"Papa, where do you go when I'm in bed?"

"Ah," he said, a smile growing on his face, "I go up there," and pointed to the ceiling.

"In the ceiling?"

"No, silly!" Caspian laughed. "I go Above."

Alda gasped."A-Above?! Mama says no-one's allowed up there!"

" _I_ am."

"What's it like? Is it good? Can I come, too?"

Caspian laughed again, but this time it was tinged with sadness. "I don't think your mother would entirely approve of that idea, Ally."

The endearing nickname 'Ally' did nothing to lift Alda's spirits; she suspected her father was right. Despite her desperate desire to see the world beyond her underground home, her mother would surely have other ideas.

That didn't stop her from dreaming, though. She laid awake in bed many a night, wondering what it would be like to gather flowers with her father. The only thing holding her back from sneaking out and following Caspian was...

"For the last time, Cas, stop putting foolish ideas in her head! She's going to be soldier and that's that. Going Above is too dangerous!"

"And being a soldier _isn't_ dangerous?!"

"At least there's a respawn pad down here! Up there, there's too many dangers and nothing to stop someone like Alda getting hurt - or worse -"

"I wouldn't let that happen, you know I wouldn't -"

"No, Cas. I said no. It's not happening."

"But -"

"SHUT UP! LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE -"

"This isn't fair! Why can't we let Alda choose what she wants?"

"She doesn't know what she wants! She's a child, for fuck's sake!"

"She's old enough to know -"

" _I'm_ her mother, _I'll_ make the decisions. It's for her own safety -"

"So you're saying it's better for her to rot away down here than see what the world's really like?"

"Do you not care about her safety? She could die up there!"

Was it really that dangerous to go Above? Nevertheless, Alda couldn't tamper down her curiosity. She had to know what 'stars' looked like, she had to know how the 'wind' felt against her skin, she had to know the beauty of a 'sunset'. All these things and more her father had spoken of. Alda would watch as his eyes lit up when describing these things, her curiosity rising; she wanted nothing more than to to see for herself the thing that put such a happy expression on her father's face. So, one day, she slipped out of bed and followed him.

The metal floor was cold under her bare feet but she padded along anyway, watching the shadowy figures ahead of her. She hurried to catch up with them, almost tripping several times on discarded equipment. The group of Gatherers moved quickly, and Alda almost lost sight of them several times, but she did her best to keep up. It was nerve-wracking. The small Octoling, terrified of being caught, jumped at the slightest sound as she made her way down the corridor. Sure that her mother was on her tail, she quickened her pace. Once she'd caught up with them enough to be able to hear their conversation, she hovered behind and eavesdropped.

"So, Caspian, you're leaving, huh?"

"It's... it's not definite..."

There was a roar of laughter. "Brooke left a while ago, too. You're next, huh? Is this gonna be a Gatherer tradition?"

"No! No, I just..."

"Is it Sylvette? Is she giving you hell again?"

"When is she not givin' the poor guy hell?" asked another voice.

"Is she still saying Alda can't be a Gatherer?"

Alda held her breath as her father sighed. "Yes."

More laughter. "I bet she thinks Alda's gonna leave, too."

Caspian was silent.

"I'm right, aren't I? Poor kid. I kinda wish she _could_ leave, and escape livin' with Sylvette. At least you're gettin' out, eh, Caspian?"

"Like I said -"

"It's not definite, right right." They snorted. "You want to get out, though, right?"

"...Yes."

Alda gasped before she could stop herself. The Gatherers immediately stopped talking, whirling around to try and identify the source of the noise. One of them even unsheathed a weapon.

"Did you hear...?"

Alda carefully backed into the shadows, her heart thudding painfully. Waves of panic washed over her, and she held as still as she could, not daring to breathe.

"I have a funny feeling..." Caspian took a step towards Alda's hiding place, "A... Ally?"

Alda's heart leapt to her throat.

Her father sighed again. "Ally, I... I know you're there. You can come out."

Alda stayed put.

"We're not going to hurt you." There was a moment of silence. "If you stay here, your mother will find you."

"I don't care," said Alda, her voice wobbly.

"You are there. I thought so." Her father knelt down in front of the shadowy corner where Alda was stood. "Why did you follow me?"

"I want... I want to go Above."

"You're... pretty determined, aren't you?"

Alda was silent. "Papa..."

"Yes?"

"Where are you going?"

"I'm... I'm going Above, like I do every night."

"No," said Alda. She clenched her fists. "Where are you going? Why are you leaving?"

Caspian was silent.

Alda's lip began to wobble, and she sniffed. "Papa..."

"Hey," said Caspian quietly, "come here."

Alda took a few shaky steps forwards and Caspian gently wrapped his arms around her and stood up. Easily carrying the small child, he turned back to his fellow Gatherers.

"I'm sorry about this," he said. "I'm going to take Ally to bed, then I'll be right back."

The other Gatherers nodded in an understanding way, giving Alda pitying looks.

"You can't follow me again, Alda, okay?"

Alda nodded and buried her face in her father's shirt. That was one of the last times she ever saw him.

* * *

"I'm sorry," whispered Coral. "I didn't know, I... I'm sorry."

Alda didn't say anything.

"You don't have to tell me all at once, I..." she hesitated, "do you want a hug?"

Alda nodded. The two were still sat on the kitchen floor, and the clock read 1:42am. Coral could tell Alda was tired in the way she rested her head against Coral's when the Inkling leant in for a hug.

"Hey," said Coral after a moment of silence. "I have an idea." She pulled away and stood up, offering Alda a hand.

The Octoling disregarded it and stood up by herself. "What idea?"

"You have to close your eyes."

"Close my...? What for?"

Coral laughed quietly. "Just do it."

Alda obliged. "Now what?"

Looking at Alda, Coral had the sudden urge to kiss her as the Octoling stood waiting, eyes shut tight. She averted her gaze. "Okay... n-no peeking, alright?"

"Sure, sure, whatever."

"Okay," Coral repeated. Nervously, she reached out and took hold of Alda's hand and, trying not to pay too much attention to their intertwined fingers, began to lead her to the back door.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

Alda muttered something under her breath that sounded a lot like a swearword.

"Be patient, will you?" The Inkling seized a key from the kitchen side and inserted it into the back door, fumbling a little with the keyhole. A quick glance outside reassured her that the sky was clear - not a cloud in sight. Finally managing to get the door open, she pulled Alda outside.

The Octoling hesitated at the doorway.

"Come on," said Coral. "It's safe."

Tentatively, Alda took a step into the night. "It's cold," she mumbled.

Coral didn't reply, merely shrugging and pushing the door closed. She gently tugged on Alda's and led the Octoling into her small back yard and onto the grass. "Sit," she commanded.

Alda sat.

Coral placed herself opposite her, cringing at how cool and damp the grass was. The cold wind on her skin made her shiver, and she pulled her pajama top more tightly around herself. "Okay, you can open your eyes." When Alda did so, the Inkling hesitated, then whispered: "look up."

There was a sharp intake of breath. Alda sat, speechless, staring up at the night sky with wide-eyed wonder.

"Hey," the Inkling said quietly, "if we lay down on our backs, we can see them without hurting our necks."

Alda silently shifted so that she was on her back, not saying a word and not taking her eyes off the sky. She didn't seem to car about how cold it was anymore. "What... are they?"

Coral laid herself next to Alda. "Stars."

"St... stars." Alda's breath hitched. When Coral looked over at her, the Octoling was smiling and there was a tear sliding down her cheek.

Coral hesitated, then reached out slowly and took hold of Alda's hand again. "Look," she breathed, just loud enough for Alda to hear, "you can join them up to make pictures in the sky. They're called constellations. See -" she lifted her hand to point " - that one's called Orion, and that one's Pegasus. And that one, over there, it spells out 'you are a nerd' -"

Alda made a vaguely disgruntled noise.

"But if you look, you can make all sorts of pictures. See, there's one of me and you."

Alda reached out a shaky hand and pointed upwards. "There's... a mug."

Coral laughed. "My new favorite constellation. How about that one, over there, I can see Ika!"

"And that one, that's you!"

"M-me?"

"Mhm."

The Inkling looked over at her again. Alda's eyelids had begun to droop; she looked as if she was about to fall asleep. "Hey, Alda, we should probably head back in."

Frowning, the Octoling in question muttered something incoherent under her breath.

"You're tired." _Maybe she's overwhelmed. It must be a lot to take in._

"No m'not."

"Yeah, you are. Come on, sit up. Sleeping under the stars isn't actually that nice, you know."

"I'm aware," muttered Alda shifting into a sitting position. She was silent for a few seconds, then: "I want to look at the stars for a bit longer."

"I... me too. Next time the sky's clear, we'll come outside and see them."

"P-promise?"

"I promise." Coral stood up, once more offering Alda a hand.

She accepted it this time, allowing Coral to lead her back into the house. "Hey, Coral?"

"Mhm?"

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"I told something about myself, didn't I?"

"Y... yes?"

"So... now, it's your turn."

"My turn? A... alright then."


	27. Cavalier

"No."

"Look, buddy," growled Arden, "I am not doin' cleanin' duty for a month."

"That's your problem, not mine."

"This may be news to ya, but I don't give _two shits_ about your problems. What I do give two shits about is havin' to clean all sorts of crap for a _month."_

"Yes, but if I don't get the fuck out, I'm going to get tortured."

Arden threw their head back and howled with laughter. "Ya think," they sputtered, "ya think I care?!"

Finn stood, still and silent, waiting for Arden to finish laughing with increasing frustration. He didn't see what was so funny.

Arden's grin was one that seemed to be inviting a punch from Finn, and even Berry looked unimpressed. "You're hilarious. It's, uh, too bad I have to hand you over to the Commander." Carelessly dumping Berry on the ground, they pulled out a switchblade.

Finn raised an eyebrow at the small weapon. _Is that really all they have?_

Arden, catching Finn's expression, frowned. "Oh come on, what does it matter if I stab ya with a big knife or a small knife?" There was a short pause then, before Finn could begin to back away, Arden sighed and put away their switchblade. "Alright, fine. Just don't blame me when I end up cuttin' ya hand off or something." They reached behind them and unsheathed another weapon. As long as Finn's forearm, the knife glinted in the light of the bulbs.

"Wait-"

Arden didn't wait. They swiftly stepped forwards and brought the knife down in an arc that was too close to Finn's face for his liking.

He stumbled backwards. "You're supposed to capture me, not kill me!"

Arden shrugged. "I thought I'd have a little fun first." They slashed again, this time cutting a line down the Inkling's cheek.

Finn felt a flare of anger, burning in the pit if his stomach. Oh, how much he wanted to give this Octoling the right hook they deserved. He clenched his fists, then froze. Another feeling, another burning emotion tormenting his insides stopped him from raising his hand. The guilt that'd reared its head after the incident with Ika came back and once more took up residence in his veins.

Arden raised the knife to strike again and, unsure of what else to do, Finn turned and fled.

\----

* * *

* * *

 

He soon found himself lost, out of breath and unable to force his legs to take him any further. Once his breathing slowed and the burning in his lungs lessened, he took a few steps forwards and looked around.

He was in a long corridor, lit by dim, flickering bulbs hanging from the ceiling that illuminated the doors on either side. The doors went as far as Finn could see, numbers marked on them.in what looked like permanent marker: _65, 66, 67,_ etc. A sign over his head read _'Sector 11'._ It seemed to be deserted.

Something further down caught his attention and he walked towards it, trying to make as little noise as possible. It was a... message board. Bits of paper were pinned up on the board, paper that read things like: 'Missing goggles - please return to room 71' or 'Octosugar - sweetest cake stall in the market! Come buy cakes in the shape of Octavio's face!' Neither of those sounded very interesting to Finn. One of the other flyers, however, caught his eye. 'Gatherer meeting Tuesday at Lights Out'. What the hell was a 'Gatherer'? And what was 'Lights Out'?

After a moment's hesitation, he pulled down the notice, folded it up and slid it into his pocket.

Just then, the bulbs began to flicker. Finn looked up sharply as the corridor was suddenly plunged into darkness. He froze and his heart leapt to his throat - was this what 'Lights Out' was? Hands shaking, Finn pulled out his phone and switched it on. The faint light was little help, but he shone it around anyway.

Now, Finn wasn't at all superstitious. He didn't believe in ghosts, didn't care about so-called 'hauntings' and couldn't care less about Squidoween. In his opinion, it was all a load of garbage and Finn didn't care for it in the slightest.

When he lifted his phone, what was illuminated by it was enough to - for a brief moment - make him question everything he thought he knew about the paranormal.

His breath caught in his throat and his heart began thudding wildly. Shining the light towards the figure he'd glimpsed, he nearly screamed when he saw a small child standing there. A second look, however, calmed his nerves; it was the Octoling child from before. Berry.

The child blinked up at him, and gave him that same worried look he'd seen on them before.

"Uh," said Finn. "Uh, you... I..." His heart still racing, he stumbled over his words.

Berry ignored him and pointed urgently back where they'd came. They then closed their eyes and put a finger on their lips.

_I'm guessing that means listen._ When Finn listened out, he could hear voices in the distance - loud, shouting voices that echoed off walls and set Finn's nerves on edge. "Oh, crap."

Berry was still for a second, then began to walk down the hallway. After a second of hesitation, Finn followed. He shone his phone around as he walked, taking in his surroundings with a mixture of unease and wonder.

Some doors, he saw, were decorated. Number 65 had, for no apparent reason, been painted entirely bright red. Some had names, such as number 67, which had 'Leon' in bright sparkly pink lettering.

The door Berry led him to was plain except for something written on it in marker: 'Arden'.

"No," said Finn. "I am not going in there." He was pretty sure that the Octoling who owned this room would rather gut him than allow him in their space.

Berry ignored him again. They pushed open the door and walked in, glancing behind them to make sure Finn was following. Finn really, really wished he wasn't.

The room was small and just as dark as the corridor was. There was a single bed - a rickety, broken, rather sad-looking thing - a small table and a shelf. It was like walking into an antique shop; the room was crammed with all sorts of strange stuff. Finn took a closer look at the stuff on the shelf: there was a pair of Octoling goggles, an empty notebook, a rubber band, a newspaper cutout - _hold on._

Finn picked up the cutout and scanned the headline: 'Octoling Intruder Was Just a Hoax?" The Inkling stared. How on earth had Arden gotten hold of this? He put the cutout in his pocket alongside the Gatherers' notice, then shone his phone around the room again.

As if the crap on the shelf wasn't weird enough, Berry was now holding and Octoball. The child held the Octoball under one arm while fiddling with the lightbulb and, after a few seconds, the room was flooded with cold light.

Finn had opened his mouth to question something - perhaps the Octoball, or the disarray in Arden's room - when Berry paused again. Once more, they put their finger to their lips. _Oh, for fucks sake._

There was someone walking down the corridor.

"What the fuck do we do?" Finn hissed, turning to Berry.

Berry smiled and handed the Octoball to him.

He recoiled in disgust. "I don't want it!"

He was ignored, not for the first time that night. Berry pointed to the bed and Finn, uncertain of what else to do, sat down. The Octoball was thrust onto his lap. Hearing the footsteps approach the door, Finn could do nothing but watch as the handle swung downwards.

Arden stalked in and, at first, didn't notice Finn sitting there. They began speaking to Berry once the door swung shut. "You'll never guess what Shitvette did. She - WHAT THE _FUCK!?"_

Berry gave Finn a reassuring smile, then stood between him and Arden as the latter pulled out a knife.

"You," spat Arden. "What are you doin' in my room?!"

"It's not as if I want to be here."

"Then get out!"

Berry shook their head, then pointed at Arden's switchblade. Having got Ardens attention, they shook their head again.

"Why? I really want to stab him. What's stoppin' me?"

Berry folded their arms.

"Alright, alright fine," Arden grumbled, pocketing the switchblade. They shot another sour look at Finn. "Ya put one toe outta line and I'll cut it off. Got that?"

Finn returned the sour look twicefold, but kept silent and simply nodded his head.

Flopping down on the bed (as far away from Finn as was possible), Arden pulled out some chocolate and began to complain. "Ya realise I'm now on cleanin' duty for a month? Shitvette said if I didn't hand you over to her by Lights Out, she'd have me cleanin' shit for a month. A _month."_ They bit into the chocolate and gave Finn a resentful look.

"It's not my fault you're shit at your job."

Arden sneered. "Very funny." They shifted on the bed so that their back was to Finn, then carried on eating chocolate.

Finn looked helplessly to Berry. The child, after a moment's hesitation, turned and grabbed the notebook and a broken pencil fron the shelf. Ripping out a blank page, they began to write.

Once they'd finished, they handed the paper to Finn. It read: "only talc wen holdeng octobal." The words were written in a child's scrawl, barely legible.

Arden had turned around at that point, and snatched the paper out Finn's hands. Berry smiled up at them proudly as the Octoling read what was on the paper. "Holy shit, kid. I didn't know ya could write! Not bad."

Berry's eyes lit up. It seemed then that some of the tension lifted as Arden turned back to face Finn.

They snatched the Octoball out of Finn's hands. "Right. My fuckin' turn first. I'm gonna go along with this for now, for the kid's sake. Let's be civil, eh?"

Finn's face was twice as sour when he took the Octoball back. "You're one to talk about being civil."

"Maybe we should start this pleasant conversation by introducin' ourselves first." Despite how light and cheery their voice sounded as they took back the Octoball, Finn could see in the Octoling's eyes how much they wanted to murder him.

"Haven't we already done tha -"

"Only people holdin' the Octoball can speak!" Arden waved Berry's little piece of paper in Finn's face. The Inkling scowled. "Right. So, I'm Arden. What's your name?" They spoke slowly, enunciating their words as if they were talking to an infant.

When Finn took back the Octoball, he had half a mind to throw it at Arden. "Finn. You already know this."

"I have an idea! Let's tell each other the things that we enjoy! People who like bein' in each other's presence do that, right?" Arden's smile was forced as they seized the Octoball in a vice-like grip. "I'll go first. I enjoy committing crimes." They passed the miserable-looking Octoball back to Finn.

"I enjoy being as far away from you as possible."

"Brilliant! We already have somethin' in common; I want to be as far away from you as possible, too!" Arden turned to Berry with a grin. "See, we're gettin' along like a house on fire!"

Finn gritted his teeth. "I'd rather be on fire than get along with you."

"Careful what ya wish for, kid. I have some matches somewhere around here."

Berry patted Arden on the arm and shook their head.

"Why?!" burst out Arden. "I don't see why I can't just get rid of this absolute waste of oxygen! He's done nothin' but get me into bother and waste my goddamn time!"

Berry picked up their pencil and paper again. They wrote something, tore it out out of the notebook then reached over and pressed the paper against Arden's chest, over their heart.

Arden's frown disappeared as they read what was on the paper. They let out a small sigh. "Alright." Addressing Finn loudly, they said: "change of plans. I'm not killin' ya after all. No, we're friends now. Whether ya like it or not."


	28. Appetence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Appetence - an eager desire, an instinctive inclination; an attraction or natural bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time, no see, huh? Whoops
> 
> Lowkey dedicating this chapter to my lovely friend Neth, as he deserves some fluff n happiness in his life

Coral picked her way carefully through the cafeteria. She went as fast as she could, with her eyes trained on the ground both to avoid looking at people and to watch out for the occasional stuck-out foot. Tripping with a tray of food in her hands would not end well (she knew that from experience, and it was a lesson she'd have rather not learnt).

Hurrying past each table, she overheard a few snatches of conversation:

"My dad said he'd buy the new Aerospray for me-"

"...you do the homework?"

"We had homework?!"

"Have you seen the new girl yet?"

"...teacher's gonna kill me.."

There was a few sniggers too, but Coral did her best to ignore them and let out a sigh of relief when she reached her table in one piece. She'd had to awkwardly step over a few maliciously placed legs, but she'd managed to keep her dinner intact and she sat down at the empty table, surreptitiously glancing around. Relieved and slightly surprised, she noted a distinct lack of jeers or obscene gestures thrown her way.

"I guess I'm not complaining," she muttered to herself before looking down at her meal, and half-heartedly began to eat.

She was barely halfway through her lunch when she saw someone out of the corner of her eye approach the table. Expecting it to be the usual lunchtime asshole, she arranged her face into the standard frown-and-glare look to warn any bullies that she was not in a good mood - but the frown dropped off her face almost immediately.

"Um, hi! Is, uh, is it okay if I sit with you? There's no other seats free and- you look kinda alone so..."

As the quiet voice trailed off, Coral gave a silent nod and blinked. She hadn't seen this person around before, and she seemed nicer than the usual brand of asshole.

With a relived smile, the person sat down and put a small lunch box on the table in front of them. "I'm Ika, by the way! What's your name?"

"Coral," she mumbled.

"Nice to, it's nice to meet you!" Ika stumbled over her words nervously but gave Coral a brave smile. "I'm new!"

The other Inkling raised an eyebrow. "Huh.. well, welcome to the shithole. Nice to meet you, too."

Ika's nervous smile faltered a bit and she fiddled with the straps on her lunch box. "It's-it's not that bad, is it?"

Biting back a harsh laugh, Coral said, "it's not that bad for most people." She didn't care to elaborate, and Ika didn't ask.

* * *

Coral set down her empty mug on the side. "It's late, we should go to bed."

"I'm not tired," argued Alda. She ignored Coral's pointed look and took another sip of her hot chocolate. "And it's my turn now, too."

Coral had a sneaking suspicion that Alda had had too much sugar.

"You should get some more chocolate," said Alda, pointing at Coral's mug.

"You should get a decent sleep schedule," muttered the Inkling. "I don't want anymore hot chocolate, anyway."

"Yes, you do."

Coral sighed. "Yes, I do." She stood up and pulled out the tin of cocoa powder. "We're running out," she mumbled.

Alda's eyebrows drew together, and she fell silent. Glancing down at her, Coral watched the Octoling study the tiles. "Coral?"

"Yes?"

"Were you really bullied?"

"Yeah. It's not a big deal."

"Oh..." The kitchen felt a bit colder all of a sudden, and Alda wrapped her fingers tighter around her warm mug.

Coral flicked the kettle on for the third time that night. "I'll get some blankets." She didn't bring up going to bed.

When she returned, she gave Alda an apologetic smile and handed her a blanket. "I could only find one. Sorry. You can have it - I'm not that cold." She finished making her hot chocolate, then joined Alda on the kitchen floor. The tiles were cold and, shivering, she wished she'd found more than one blanket.

Without saying anything, Alda scooted closer and wrapped the blanket around Coral, so that they were both huddled into it. Coral couldn't help but smile. She tried to thank her, but found she couldn't speak, so she poured as much appreciation into her eyes as she could and hoped Alda would understand. Knowing the Octoling, she probably wouldn't.

Heat rose to Coral's cheeks when Alda's arm brushed against hers, and something warm blossomed in her chest when she thought of how spending the night talking to her and being so close felt so natural. She stared into her chocolate for a few moments, hesitating on an idea that had begun to take form in her head. Taking another sip of her hot chocolate, she fixed her gaze on the kitchen tiles. They were too white in the bright glare of the overhead light, but Coral kept staring, afraid that if she so much as glanced at Alda, she wouldn't be able to take her eyes away.

Abruptly, she got to her feet. The blanket dropped the the floor and Coral cringed as some liquid slopped over the cup she was holding. She placed it carefully on the side before daring to turn and meet Alda's confused gaze.

Alda pulled the blanket over her head and mumbled something about being cold.

Biting her lip, Coral dipped a hand into her pocket and pulled out a small music player. "Uh," she began, eloquently.

Alda peeked out from underneath the blanket. "Why'd you get up?"

"Well," said Coral, "I thought we could... well, I had an idea..." _It can't hurt,_ she thought. _Just say it._ "I was wondering..." She held the hand that wasn't holding her music player out to Alda. "Would you... do you want... will you dance with me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shut up and dance with me ~
> 
> Inspired by Honoka, for as soon as i heard that song in the playlist you made, i instantly imagined us slow dancing in the kitchen late at night to sappy love songs
> 
> I'm a bit rusty with my writing skills, so this isn't too good but hopefully I'll improve as i get back in the habit of writing. Thank you for the sweet comments i haven't gotten round to yet, and i hope you enjoyed this (very late) chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> I'll update as often as I can! Which will probably be once every few days? I will hold onto that hope hahahahhhhhhh


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